Out of the Ashes
by breakaway-republic
Summary: Post Leiline: As the Heiphong Space Race nears, a figure from the past re-emerges to stake her claim on the XGP and a relentless Ctarl Ctarl bounty huntress pursuing her is led to the doorstep of Starwind & Hawking Enterprises.
1. Bump in the Night

**Disclaimer: I own a VCR, two thirty-year old cameras, an ornery Nissan and lots of denim. However, I DO NOT own Outlaw Star- they keep turning down my generous offers. I'll get over it, someday**   
  


The lone figure purposefully made her way through the crowds and side-streets of the Towards Stars Inn station; her rapid, deliberate pace underlying the uncertainty she was once again feeling. Low on funds and inexplicably separated from her spaceship, she knew she could always count on her guile and quick-thinking to get out of a jam. She had managed to pull herself out of deeper shit in times past, to be certain. However, it wasn't the actual situation that bothered her so much as the lack of understanding as to exactly how she wound up where she was. She had no idea what had happened to her, her friends and partners and her ship. To the best of her knowledge, as much as a precious month of her life was unaccounted for. The further that period of time slipped away, the more it ate at her. 

*Amnesia* she scoffed to herself. It was the stuff of bad Old Earth telenovellas. Yet she was living with it- at least partly. It wasn't like she didn't know who she was and where she was from. She also knew that she was being hunted. All sorts of unsavory people had scores to settle with her, but so far she had remained one step ahead of them. If she was to hide, she was more content to hide in plain sight. 

The dark-haired woman may not have known exactly what she was doing a year ago, but she knew enough that she was plenty thirsty. She headed into the Temple Bar. It was a fairly tidy and well-kept place, several steps above what she was used to. There was the bartender and two patrons discussing the days events as the television droned on at an unintrusive volume. She greeted the rotund, grizzled bartender with a quick nod. 

"What'll it be?" he asked, polishing off a glass and hanging it overhead. 

"Whiskey on the rocks." she said. 

The bartender obliged, handing off her glass before heading back to give his take on the benefits of a revised trade treaty with the Silgrians to the two patrons. The woman occupied herself with the TV screen. It was time for the nightly news, and it was looking like a slow news day..... 

**....and in sports, the deadline for registration in the Heiphong Space Race is winding down this week. Several contenders representing corporations are slated to return this year, including the Gorgeous Mitsiru, Achilles and Vostok. There have been a few new entries in the privateer division, but it remains to be seen wether or not last year's dark horse entry, The Outlaw Star, will register this year. The Outlaw Star surprised a lot of fans last year by finishing first overall in the privateer category..** 

The woman looked up from her drink, and her eyes widened. Showing footage of the ship crossing the finish line at last year's races, she saw the red Outlaw vessel and recognized it immediately. Her hand clenched the drink. 

"Son of a Bitch! The XGP.......How........?" she said to nobody in particular. Her fist tightened around the glass and she was brought out of her state by a loud popping noise. She looked down to see the glass shattered in her hands. The others in the bar turned to look as broken glass, whiskey and ice cubes clattered on the floor. Blood was starting to pour from an open cut in her palm. 

"Are you OK?" one of them asked. 

"I'm fine..." she said abruptly, reaching into her pocket with the bloodied hand and pulling out a 5 Wong coin. She tossed it onto the bar before setting down the jagged bloody glass, making no effort to examine her wound. "Just fine....." she mused quietly as she turned to leave. 

** 

"OK Aisha- can you help me put this panel back in place?" Jim asked. 

The Ctarl-Ctarl nodded and effortlessly lifted up the heavy and bulky hydraulic panel, slowly sliding it along the wall and lining it up with the screws. 

"Has Gene even registered yet?" she impatiently asked. 

"Nope." Jim said as he began twisting the screws back into place "he and Mel are still trying to sweet talk Fred into some sort of sponsorship deal." 

"What if that doesn't work out?" 

"Dunno." Jim shrugged "But there's no harm in running a little maintenance on the ship even if we can't register for the race." 

A pink Gillium-can quietly slid up on its rail next to the two of them. "I'm perfectly capable of running a diagnostic on my own systems. I would be more than ready to let you know if anything was amiss, although I'd need to be in Zero Gravity to carry out any heavy labor myself." he said, sounding as indignant as his programming would permit. 

"I know, Gil, but....." Jimmy started to say as he tightened the last screw on the panel in place and stood up. 

"....Jimmy prefers to do things the old-fashioned way. If ya want something done right, ya gotta do it yourself sometimes, y'know? " Aisha said to the ship's computer as she affectionately ruffled to boy's hair. 

Jim couldn't help but smile as he gently guided her hand away from his head. A year ago, her actions would've drawn a very different reaction- annoyance at best, and possibly fear. To say that Aisha had grown on him in that past year was an understatement. Perhaps the most surprising thing about her as far as Jim was concerned was how often the Ctarl Ctarl was right. 

"Should Fred fail to provide funds for registration, I'll be glad to contribute." a voice spoke up. 

Aisha and Jim looked up through the hatch and saw Suzuka peering down at them. 

"I didn't know you had that kind of money." Jim said. 

"Under ordinary circumstances, I don't have such a large sum of money on my person, but lately I've had a run of good fortune at one of the casinos." she explained. Spending ten thousand Wong on the Outlaw Star was no more a risky gamble than any roulette wheel. 

For the past few nights, Aisha, Suzka and Jim were sleeping in their quarters on board the Outlaw Star while it was still docked. While Aisha was helping Jim around the ship, she lost herself in her meditation and training. Much of the time, it felt almost like a sleep over. But as much fun as the three of them professed to be having fun, the real reason the assassin, warrior and boy-genius decided to spend their nights on board the ship was Gene and Melfina's repeated and very loud lovemaking. To Jim and Aisha, it was merely an annoyance, but it genuinely ate away at Suzuka. For as long as she could remember, she prided herself on being a solitary individual, relying on no one other than herself. But each time she saw Gene and Melfina together, she simply felt alone. 

** 

The streets of the Towards Stars Inn were a cacophony of sights, sounds and smells. But it was the smells that stood out in Takana Jaci-Jaci's mind. In addition to meat sizzling on vendor's grills and fresh produce being sold in the market, each Terran had their own unique individual scent. Each time she inhaled, she felt so alive. It was almost overwhelming at times. Her accelerated Ctarl Ctarl metabolism dictated that she have something to eat before continuing her search, so she purchased from one of the merchants some sliced mutton and grilled onion wrapped in a large slice of fluffy Injera bread and made quick work of that. 

Takana was a descendant of an ancient Tribe of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire whose prowess at tracking and hunting was legendary, earning the moniker Tracker-Killers. Like so many other Ctarl Ctarl women, Takana Jaci-Jaci was quite beautiful- just under six feet tall, slender, shoulder-length brown hair, and with piercing jade eyes. Perhaps what set her apart from others was her chosen trade. As interstellar trade with other species opened up in the isolated corner of the Empire where she was exiled to, Takana realized how valuable her skills were to other species. Instead of waiting tables or stripping in other parts of the galaxy, as other Ctarl Ctarl women frequently found themselves, she was able to make a small fortune off of the natural hunting abilities the Creators saw fit to endow herself and her ancestors with. This would be her most lucrative job yet. 

In the bustling market square, there were thousands of Terrans. However, she was searching for only one- the dark haired woman. For one tantalizing moment, she had caught a glimpse of the woman from across the market. The Terran woman was making no effort to conceal herself- she was either very bold or very foolish. But almost as quickly as she had spotted her, the elusive woman had vanished, leaving Takana amid thousands of unfamiliar faces. She surreptitiously unscrewed a small gold claw-shaped capsule from her necklace and extracted a pinch of iaru root between her two fingers before placing it under her tongue. Takana let out a sharp, barely audible gasp as her body shuddered, a typical side effect of the root. Everybody seemed to be moving in slow-motion as her ears throbbed and she continued through the crowd. This was what she lived for. It was time to resume the hunt. 

** 

Perhaps it was a curse, perhaps it was a gift, but Aisha Clanclan was a light sleeper. Through closed doors, her keen ears could hear somebody talking quietly. She was still a little bit groggy, but she realized she was on the ship. She assumed that it was Jim talking to Gillium and was about ready to roll over and go back to sleep when she realized that it was a woman's voice she was hearing, and it wasn't Suzuka or Melfina. Aisha stood up and sniffed as an unfamiliar scent wafted through the air. An intruder. Why didn't Gillium set off an alarm? 

The Ctarl Ctarl stepped out of her room and cautiously made her way to the bridge. She could now hear the intruder, who was having a hushed conversation with Gillium. 

"FOUR Unsen Engines?" the voice asked in quiet disbelief. 

"That is correct......" 

"Fantastic. Just out of curiosity, who the hell painted you pink?" 

"I would prefer not to discuss it at this moment." the computer said. 

The scent wasn't familiar to Aisha, but she was sure she recognized the voice from somewhere. Naturally, she had questions, but she felt they could be answered in good time courtesy of "Ctarl Ctarl persuasion". The cat-girl crept closer, unnoticed by their late-night guest. Aisha saw that the dark-haired intruder was busying herself by looking over the controls and decided to make her move. 

The intruder stood up from the control panel as she caught a glimpse of something behind her reflected in one of the bridge's windows. Letting out a growl as she leapt, Aisha was hoping to knock her down and pin her to the ground, but the woman had just enough time to anticipate the Ctarl Ctarl's attack. Although not nearly as strong as Aisha, the woman was taller than the cat-girl and stronger than she looked. Sensing that she couldn't knock her down right away, Aisha grabbed the woman by her shoulders, spun her around and slammed her into the bulkhead behind the bridge. The dark haired woman countered with a quickness that would've made any Ctarl Ctarl warrior jealous as she pulled out a large-caliber pistol, pulled back the hammer and planted the barrel firmly in Aisha's right ear. Her finger tensed on the trigger as Aisha glared at her. She was trying to think of where she saw the face before as the intruder spoke up. 

"Ctarl Ctarls and me just DO NOT get along.....give me one good reason why I shouldn't splatter your brains all over the floor, Miss Kitty." 

Aisha continued glaring at her. This Terran didn't seem too eager to pull the trigger, but she didn't seem all that reluctant, either. Aisha bared her fangs and grinned as the intruder felt something long, sharp and slender press into her windpipe from behind. 

"I can think of at least one....." Suzuka spoke up, applying just enough pressure to the bokuto without drawing any blood. Taking the assassin's hint, the woman pulled the pistol away from Aisha's head and relaxed her grip on it. "Now why don't you deposit your firearm on the floor before somebody gets hurt...." the assassin suggested. 

".....namely yourself." Aisha growled as she ripped the gun out of the woman's hand and threw it on the floor. It clattered across the floor of the bridge, well out of their reach. Aisha slammed the woman hard into the bulkhead again, firmly placing one hand around her neck. She didn't want to wait for their unwelcome guest to try and pull any more surprises. It was time for a little Q&A session, but the woman had a very defiant gleam in her eye that made it clear answers weren't forthcoming. That didn't mean they weren't going to try. 

"WHO ARE YOU?" Aisha yelled. 

"I should be asking you the same thing. What are you doing on this ship?" the woman replied. 

"We happen to be the crew." Suzuka calmly answered. 

"What the hell kind of question in that?!" Aisha sneered 

"You mean to tell me that you're this vessel's full compliment?" the woman asked. 

Neither one of them felt like answering the others questions. It looked like a stalemate until a small, sleepy figure clutching a freshly brewed cup of coffee and clad in cargo pant and a grey jacket walked onto the bridge. He had been up examining this year's revised route for the Space race when he heard the commotion. 

"What's going on?" Jim wearily asked Aisha and Suzuka. His jaw dropped and his face turned pale when he got a good look at the intruder. The intruder's facial expression changed upon seeing him, as though she recognized the boy-genius from somewhere. Jim could only back away in disbelief. 

"Hello Jim...." the woman said coyly. The ceramic cup of coffee fell and shattered against the floor as Jim took two steps back. In the back of his mind, he realized that he had spilled some hot coffee on his foot, which burned a little. So that somehow meant that this wasn't a dream. Aisha's expression changed from fury to concern as she turned around and looked at Jim. The poor kid looked like he had seen a ghost. 

"H-h-h-h-Hilda......?" Jim finally managed to stammer 


	2. Black and Blue Heaven

**It was an eerily quiet night on the little backwater space-station she was on. She had already forgotten the name of the place, only that she almost died there. She was going from berth to berth trying to book passage to Blue Heaven and hoping to call in a favor from Swanzo once there. Hilda also knew that she was being followed. Emerging from one of the berths, she looked up to see a figure standing on a streetlight above her clad in a black cloak- like the Reaper. With a speed that couldn't possibly be human, the figure leapt down, bearing her talons and fangs. It was a female Ctarl Ctarl- her eyes shining a malevolent green light. Hilda drew her weapon and she felt the beast's talons tear into her side. As Hilda felt the warmth of her own blood spilling out from her abdomen, she squeezed off a shot. The Ctarl Ctarl stumbled backwards, but Hilda didn't notice this as her ears echoed with the sound of gunfire and she collapsed to the ground, expecting the Ctarl Ctarl to finish her off. 

To go is death. To stay is death...she said to herself as she slipped further and further into the pitch-black abyss. If she lay still, perhaps the Ctarl Ctarl would mistake her for dead and leave her alone. In the back of her mind, she knew that if she played dead long enough, she really would be dead. 

Instead, Hilda summoned up the last of her strength and rolled over to see the beast-girl on her knees clutching her left ear and screaming. 

"YOU WHORE!! What did you do to me? I'm deaf....." she angrily cried to Hilda. 

In the dim light, Hilda saw that blood was trickling from the Ctarl Ctarl's hands as they were clasped over her ear. There already was a generous amount of her own blood mixed in with the Ctarl Ctarl's. However, Hilda was in no mood to savor this little victory. If she didn't do something quickly, she would black out and bleed to death on the ground. The Outlaw managed to pull herself up and staggered away from the Ctarl Ctarl bounty huntress, who was still wailing in despair and agony. 

"NO! I'M DEAF....." 

The Ctarl Ctarl now had a difficult choice to make- pursue Hilda and risk losing her hearing, becoming crippled and disfigured or let the Outlaw go so that she could try and patch up her wound as best she could and determine the true extent of her injury. As the Outlaw feebly staggered further and further away, Takana realized that a Tracker-Killer was useless with only one good ear. The Outlaw Hilda had just brought herself a brief reprieve.**   
  


** 

"WHAT?!" Takana spat at the screen on the pay-video booth. She was outside of the passenger dock on the Towards Stars slip. "This was NOT the deal we had agreed upon!" 

"Don't misunderstand me, I'm still very much interested in your services. I'm glad I caught you when I did. There's been a small change in plans, that's all." the shadowy figure on the other end informed her. 

These direct communiques with her latest contractor were a major hassle, since he went out of his way to maintain his anonymity and took numerous precautions to protect his identity. Takana knew exactly who he was, but she couldn't could care less, as long as the money was negotiable. Her contract was more concerned with third parties eavesdropping on their conversation. 

She had able to detect trace amounts of Hilda's blood at a place called the Temple Bar- a few drops remained on the counter. She had injured herself somehow, and the bartender was able to clean up most of the blood. But her intuition told Takana that her prey was no longer on the Towards Stars Inn. All indications seemed to point to Hilda leaving for Blue Heaven to contact an old friend of hers. Even if that wasn't the case, Takana felt that she could still get some useful information from this associate of Hilda's. However, the tracker-killer had now come across a major fly in the ointment, namely the previously agreed upon price with her contractor. 

"But that's not even half the price of what you first offered!" the tracker-killer snapped. She absently ran her finger over the hole in her left ear, fuming. Her hearing was gradually returning to that ear. The Outlaw did this to her several days prior. Takana had spotted Hilda and was careless; they both were. But Takana was very angry- her prey had never made her bleed before. 

"You misunderstand, my dear. You'll only get 100,000 Wong if you bring me a corpse. As much as I'd like to see her depart this plane of existence, there are a few things I'd like to ask her beforehand. Cadavers are terrible at the art of conversation. That is why I'll let you name your own price if you bring her to me alive." 

The bounty-huntress blinked in surprise. Alive? This was the first time anybody had instructed her to bring back her prey alive. It wasn't exactly her specialty, but she didn't want such a lucrative job to fall into somebody else's lap. Her own price? One million Wong? Two million? She knew enough about her employer that this wasn't an idle offer on his part. Takana closed her eyes, smiled slightly and started rocking back and forth while hugging herself, thinking how much Iaru root she could get with that kind of money. Five million, a shuttle-load of the strongest, purest iaru root available, her own private cabin with hot spring on Tenrei and first crack at the Outlaw Hilda after he was done with his "conversation" with her. That seemed like a fair price. The Creators were indeed being most generous to her. 

"Do we have a deal?" the man asked her through the monitor. 

"Certainly." Takana grinned as she ended the call. "I'll dictate my price to you as soon as I have her." 'Alive' didn't necessarily mean 'unscathed'. 

** 

This was not the joyous reunion anybody had anticipated. Using a pair of handcuffs for those oh-so-rare bounties that were taken alive, Hot Ice Hilda was shackled to Aisha's seat on the bridge. Hilda was quietly fuming. She had so many questions that she was hoping Jim could answer, but instead she was shackled to a chair on what was supposed to be her ship and being baby-sat by a temperamental Ctarl Ctarl. 

"Seems I mistook you for somebody else." Hilda said, glancing up at Aisha. This was as close to an apology that Hilda could muster in the past few years. 

"Silence, Terran!" Aisha snapped. 

To her credit, Aisha was showing a lot of restraint considering the one person who ruined her chances of moving up in the world was sitting helpless in front of her. But sometimes these things had a funny way of working out for the better. 

*Is she or isn't she the Outlaw Hilda?* Aisha asked herself. The Ctarl Ctarl took a look at Hilda's right hand, which was supposed to be prosthetic. But there was a fresh-looking gouge along the right palm. Since when do prosthetic limbs bleed? The person in front of her has two good eyes and two arms. From the Wanted posters of Hilda that circulated through the empire and what Gene and Jim told her, she understood that Hilda was short one arm and eye respectively. She was certain that this didn't escape Jim's attention. 

** 

Gene was brought out of a sound sleep by the ringing of the video-phone. He rolled over, reached past Melfina and groggily fumbled for the receiver. He found it by the seventh ring. 

"Hullo...?" he wearily asked. Two thirty in the morning- this had better be good, he grumbled. The screen flickered to life and he was greeted with the image of the beautiful assassin's face. 

"Gene, we would not be calling you at this ungodly hour but there's someone here at the spaceport you need to see right away." 

"Can't it.....?" 

"No, Aniki! It can't wait!" Jim spoke up urgently as he pushed Suzuka aside and his face appeared on the monitor "You HAVE to come down here. NOW!" 

"What is it Jim?" Gene asked, a little more awake. 

"I don't think telling you about it over the phone is a good idea. Just get down here as soon as you can." Jim said. 

Melfina stirred as Gene hung up the phone. The ringing had awaken her as well and she heard every word of the conversation. 

"Gene? What's going on?" the sleepy bio-android asked. 

"I'm not sure." he said to her as he got up and get dressed "Jim said it was important." 

"Let me come with you." Melfina said as she slid out of the bed. 

"I don't think that's such a good....." 

"Why?" she interrupted "Did Jim specifically say that I shouldn't come?" 

"No, I....." 

"Then I'm coming with you Gene." the bio-android asserted as she slid into her clothing. 

"Damn it, Melfina" the red-haired Outlaw sighed "Since when have you been so stubborn." 

"I guess you can blame that on my environment." 

** 

"Perhaps you were mistaken. Is it possible she somehow survived?" Suzuka told a very shaken Jim Hawking as he hung up. The two of them were in the aft section of the ship. They didn't want their guest eavesdropping on their conversation. 

He shook his head. "She blew herself and a bunch of Kei pirates up while falling into a sun. I just don't see how anybody could walk away from that. Even Hilda" 

"Then is it likely we have an impostor in our midst?" the assassin hadn't ruled out the possibility of Tao-Magic. 

"I honestly don't know..." the boy-genius said. "Why would she wait until now to come back?" 

"As you mentioned earlier, she was separated from you. If that is indeed Hilda, then it could have taken her this long simply to find you." 

He was paying no attention to her. "Gillium?" he asked one of the pink cans as it whirred by "How did she get on board?" 

"I let her on, Jim. She is still a registered crew member of this vessel. The facial and retinal scans I took confirm that they indeed belong to the same person." 

"Meaning that if she's an imposter, she's a very good one. But she has two eyes.." he started. 

"I'm well aware of that. However, the according to my data banks, the match is conclusive." 

"....and they haven't been tampered with?" 

Suzuka looked puzzled. She had never met Hilda before or even seen her picture- only heard secondhand about some of her exploits from Gene and Jim. 

"Hilda's missing an eye....was missing an eye." Jim explained to the assassin. "She also had a prosthetic arm- I should know, I was the one who repaired it." 

"There's a relatively fresh cut on one of her hands....." Suzuka started to say. 

"I know- it's the same arm that I worked on." Jim said, clearly bewildered. 

"Would it be possible that she had a new eye and arm surgically grafted onto her?" she asked. 

"I don't know, Suzuka. It's a possibility." Granted it certainly was possible with the medical science of the day, but it just didn't strike him as something Hilda would do. 

** 

**"Look at you, Taki!" her father proudly beamed as he lifted up the disheveled little girl "You're going to grow up to be so strong and beautiful- I hope you won't forget your pappa when all those handsome young warriors start lining up and ask to be your mate..." 

"Daddy.....!" the little girl blushed. Boys were still "yucky" as far as young Takana Jaci-Jaci was concerned. But nonetheless, Aryo Jaci-Jaci was proud of his only daughter. For her indoctrination as a Tracker-Killer, like so many generations before her, she was left to her own devices for a designated period of time in the forest to hunt and recover an eria berra-berra bird whose wings were clipped. The bird was similar in appearance to a barn-owl, but even flightless it was formidable prey, since it was larger than a condor. For many years, Aryo had been preparing his daughter for this test; teaching how to track her prey, disguising her scent, and crippling her quarry. He looked again at the lifeless eria berra-berra she had dragged into the clearing and then at the little girl in his arms. The time spent with his daughter had just paid off beautifully. 

"When I was your age, it took me almost eighteen hours to catch my prey..." 

"How long did I take, daddy?" 

The tall Ctarl Ctarl man smiled as he checked the ornately decorated stopwatch in his hands one more time. "Not even eleven hours". He had seen it the first time around, but thought he still thought it was too good to be true. 

"Really!?" 

Her father nodded as he reluctantly put the little girl back on the ground. "Mark these words Taki- someday very soon, you're going to be so strong and pretty...."** 

Takana's train of thought shifted as she heard a faint knocking. She looked at her reflection in the mirror over the sink in the cramped little restroom on the transport flight she was on. She was getting tense and had retreated to the sancuary that the memories of the happiest day of her life offered her. 

"Miss...." a voice from outside called. 

The Ctarl Ctarl splashed cold water from the sink onto her face and started wiping it off. The knocking continued as she did this. 

"Miss....We're approaching Blue Heaven space..." the voice said. Takana slid the door open a crack and looked at the flight attendant. 

"Good. I'll be finished shortly." she said to the attendant. The door slid shut again. 

*....so strong and pretty....* her father's voice echoed in her head. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled a little. The smile faded as she turned a little and caught a glimpse of her left ear, just under a quarter of which was missing. What would her father say if he could see her now? Takana seethed for a few seconds, then her fist crashed through the mirror. Shards rained down onto the sink and floor. Hilda was going to pay for this. Takana vowed to the Creators that she would take away everything the Outlaw held dear before collecting her bounty. 

** 

However groggy he was, Gene could understand why Jim was so excited as soon as he walked onto the bridge. It seemed there was a ghost shackled to Aisha's seat. 

"Hilda?" Gene asked dumbfounded. "What are you still doing alive?" 

"Well, you see Gene, the trick is to keep breathing..." 

It was now 3:30 in the morning and after being rousted out of bed, Gene clearly wasn't in the mood for sarcasm. 

"You're sporting a new look. Was the eyepatch some kind of ploy?" Gene asked. 

"If I remember correctly, it didn't stop you from trying to get me in the sack, Cherry." 

"Why the hell should I believe you're really Hilda? Or should I start calling you Rachel again?" 

"Ask me something that only I would know the answer to." 

"OK. What are you still doing alive?" 

"All right, ask me something else." 

Gene scoffed. Evasive as always. Not one straight answer. Not all that different from the Hilda he remembered. 

"How do I know you're not......?" 

"GODDAMMIT!" Hilda interrupted, tugging on the cuff that kept her shackled to Aisha's seat "If I knew, I'd tell you! Gene, I can't remember anything that happened after we left Blue Heaven. I don't even recall leaving there!" There was a new urgency in her voice- one that couldn't be faked. "I don't know how or why I have a flesh-and-blood arm, and I don't know why my eye decided to reappear! I don't remember a damn thing and there's a long line of people with deep pockets and excellent memories who want my head on a platter!" 

The longer the conversation continued, the more convinced Gene was that the person in the seat was indeed Hilda. The shackled Outlaw looked up at Melfina. 

"V-S-D-0-2-C. How are they treating you Melfina?" 

"I'm fine..." the bio-android started to say. 

"How did you get here?" Gene asked "Do you still have Horus?". It seemed like a stupid question, but if Hilda was right there before him in the flesh, it wouldn't be all that unreasonable to assume that Horus had somehow survived as well. Instead, Hilda shook her head. 

"I don't know what happened to Horus, either. I've been booking passage on transports- that's how I got here, at least. I wasn't even going to Heiphong until I saw a picture of the XGP on one of the newscasts. Even then, I had no idea if you guys were still alive or if somebody else had the ship.""Nani? What were we doing on the news?" Jim asked. 

"They said something about this ship finishing fourth overall in last year's Heiphong Space Race." she smirked as she looked at Gene. "Not bad for a cherry..." 

"You mean you don't remember what happened at Farfallas?" Gene said, changing the subject. 

"No- I just remember that I was supposed to meet up with Marx and O'Malley and pick up this..." she tapped the side of the ship's interior wall with her foot "....but like I said, I can't remember doing anything after we left Blue Heaven." Hot Ice paused, looking hopefully at Gene, Jim and Mel "do you know what happened to them?" 

"Dead" Gene announced somberly. "Looks like they were killed by pirates before we even got to Farfallas." 

"Damn" Hilda looked disappointed, but not all that surprised. That would explain why she was unable to come into contact with either the Leprechaun or Purgatory for almost a year. "...and what about the Galactic Leiline?" 

Gene, Jim and Mel nervously looked at each other. Assuming that it was Hilda in front of them, then she would be the one responsible for their coming into possession of the ship. That would mean she was entitled to an explanation, even if she didn't like what she was going to hear. 

** 

"I'm looking for somebody, perhaps you can help me." Takana said. Her voice and footfalls echoed as she surveyed the cavernous maintenance bay inside Blue Heaven. 

"Can't say we'll be much help. Is it another Ctarl Ctarl?" Mikey asked as he stepped out from underneath a derelict spaceship that was being stripped for parts. 

"Nope." Takana shook her head. "It's a Terran female." she reached down and produced a picture from a pocket on her cloak. This unannounced guest had Swanzo's attention as well. 

Swanzo and Mikey looked down at the picture in disbelief. It was a picture of the one-eyed Outlaw known as Hot Ice Hilda- Swanzo's all-time favorite Terran. 

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Mikey asked the Ctarl Ctarl angrily. 

"You're wasting your time. Hilda's been dead for well over a year, lady. Now if you'll excuse us, we have work to do". With great indignation, Swanzo began to walk off. Takana figured she had been polite long enough. She grabbed the little Corbonite and spun him around. 

"I assure you that Hilda is very much alive! She did this to me less than a week ago, and I don't believe in ghosts." the tracker-killer snarled as she ran a finger over the portion of her ear that Hilda's bullet tore away. 

"Let me go! What do you think you're.....AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" Swanzo cried out. Takana was twisting his little arm to the breaking point. 

"You CAN feel pain through that suit of yours, can't you Corbonite?" she smiled. "Let me tell you that this is going to be as good as it gets until you give me the answers I'm looking for." 

"My arm! You broke my arm...." Swanzo said. 

Suddenly, she relaxed her grip on Swanzo. The tracker-killer's good ear twitched and she reflexively held out the forearm of her free hand above her shoulder and few inches away from the side of her head. An instant later, a pipe-wrench swung by Mikey glanced off of her forearm and stopped a few inches shy of the Ctarl Ctarl's skull. 

"Pick on somebody your own size!" Mikey yelled. 

"You? That's not very challenging." the sadistic cat-girl pouted. Her other hand clamped around Mikey's wrist and began applying pressure until the mechanic dropped the wrench. She shoved Swanzo to the ground as she turned around to deal with the Terran. Instead of letting go, Takana pulled Mikey close and kneed him in the groin. As he was doubled over, Takana grabbed his hair and lifted his head up. For a moment, it looked as though she were going to kiss him on the neck. Instead, her fangs sliced through the mechanic's jugular vein. 

"What....did....you.....do.....to.....me?" the mechanic gasped as the blood rushed out. He pulled away from her and was already feeling woozy. 

"Mmmmm......tasty." Takana sighed happily as she lapped up some of Mikey's blood from the corner of her mouth. 

"MIKEY!" Swanzo yelled out. 

Takana saw that the bleeding mechanic was now staggering towards the pipe-wrench that he had dropped earlier, intending to bludgeon her with it. *Let him try* she smirked. Already his movements slowed down considerably. As he got down to pick up the wrench, he realized he wouldn't be able to get back up. Ever. As his life flowed out, blackness flooded in. The last thing he saw when he looked up was the chestnut-haired Ctarl Ctarl looking down on him. She was by no means finished with Mikey as she straddled him and pinned the one hand with the wrench to the floor. 

"You poor thing- I really should put you out of your misery. Don't worry, it will all be over soon." she smiled sweetly at the mechanic. 

Mikey slowly put his free hand up to her face. He was almost completely gone now, but he was trying to push the tracker-killer off of him. Takana glanced over her shoulder to make sure that Swanzo would see what she was going to do next. Using her talons, the Ctarl Ctarl slashed the mechanic's throat. He spasmed and bled for a few seconds before he was completely still. 

"You murdering bitch! What did you do?" Swanzo yelled as he futilely tried to get back up. 

"Come come- you saw the whole thing. I was simply defending myself." she shrugged. 

She was now up on her feet, casually walking towards Swanzo. Her hands and face were smeared with blood- his good friend's blood. He continued trying to get back on his feet but Takana placed her foot directly on top of his suit, pinning him to the floor. 

"Now listen up, Corbonite." She snarled. "Hilda's whereabouts is worth a lot of money to me, and it just may be worth your life. I'm going to ask you again where she is, and I want you to consider your next answer *very* carefully." 

"She's......dead......." 

Takana shook her head. How she truly detested liars. With a swift kick, she sent the little Corbonite in his suit tumbling across the mainenance bay floor. 

"OK, Corbonite. I'll play along." Takana said as she took her time in catching up to the helpless mechanic. "Hilda's dead. How did she die?" she paused to wipe some of Mikey's blood off of her face. It looked almost like warpaint. "Did a lot of people show up at the wake? What does her grave look like?". She was now towering over the dimunitive mechanic as she pouted her lips "Did you cry at her funeral? It's OK- I won't tell anybody." 

Swanzo sighed in despair. Mikey was already dead, and if this bitch wanted to waste her time chasing after more dead people then so be it. He had nothing to hide. 

"About a year an a half ago, Hilda comes here with some kids from this rock called Sentinel-3. She was supposed to meet up with some people here, but they backed out. Hilda and those kids left in a big hurry after these other outlaws started shit with her in the middle of the night...." he paused as he tried to sit upright, but Takana gently tapped his exo-suit with her foot and he was on his back again. Swanzo correctly assumed that this meant 'Continue'. "The thing is, they left on her ship Horus. But they came back on a different ship and Hilda wasn't with them. These kids told me that Hilda died fighting some Kei pirates near a star called Farfallas and that Horus was destroyed, too." 

Takana couldn't believe it. She had underestimated how truly crafty her prey was. Hilda had engineered her death so convincingly that she even fooled some of her longtime friends and associates. Get rid of Horus and start travelling with new partners and a new ship. Bodies and ships eventually burn up in a sun, so the story couldn't really be disproved. This Corbonite really believed that Hilda was dead and Takana was one of the few people who knew otherwise. Takana also felt that the missing eye and prosthetic limb was an act on Hilda's part, although she wasn't quite sure how it benefited the Outlaw. The Hilda who shot her had two very good hands and eyes. How she desperately wanted to change that. 

"The name of the ship....." she said as she absently helped herself to a pinch of the root kept in her necklace. Sawanzo was hesitating. 

"THE NAME OF THE SHIP!" she heard herself yell. 

"It's......it's a red grappler ship called the Outlaw Star...." Swanzo said glumly. Takana's attention slipped for a moment as her body happily shuddered from the root entering her system. She didn't need it at the moment, but she thought she would feel better after another hit. 

"What's that again?" the tracker-killer asked, almost apologetically. 

"The name of the ship is the Outlaw Star." 

"So tell me, where's the crew from?" 

"These kids that were with Hilda said they were from Sentinel-3 and they were going back there to get their grappler outfitted, but I took care of the registration and paint here. That was close to two years ago. I haven't seem them since." 

Takana bared her fangs again- they were still streaked with some of Mikey's blood. Swanzo didn't know it, but she was smiling. She got down on her haunches and looked at the little Corbonite. 

"The Outlaw Star out of Blue Heaven...?" she asked. Wether he knew it or not, this friend of Hilda's was now being most co-operative and helpful. 

Swanzo nodded. The Ctarl Ctarl's smile widened as she briefly looked around and saw a computer terminal in the maintenence bay. 

"Excellent!" she happily squealed as she clapped her hands together. "That means you'll have all I need to know about the Outlaw Star on file right here!". The next thing Swanzo knew, he was roughly being dragged to the computer terminal by the tracker-killer. 

"Bring up all registry information on the Outlaw Star that you have in there" she ordered. 

Swanzo slowly pecked away at the keyboard with his one good hand. An image of the red grappler ship and it's red-haired captain showed up on the screen. 

"This is the Outlaw Star....and Captain Gene Starwind?" she said as she grabbed a printout. 

"Uh-huh." 

"Very good." She said as she walked off. Takana had what she needed. "Might I suggest that while offering your prayers to whatever reptilian diety you Corbonites worship, you give thanks for the fact that I've decided to spare your life today." 


	3. Eyes on the Prize

**A.N. Sorry for the delay! Hopefully, good readers, you'll think that this has been worth the wait. FYI, to avoid any confusion later on, I married Fred off to Reiko in a previous fic called Slip of the Tongue. So without any further ado.....**   
  


*** 

Explaining exactly how a person died to that individual as they sat and listened attentively must have ranked up there with out-of-body experiences in terms of the bizarre. Gene decided to unshackle Hilda and explained to her exactly what happened at Farfallas, right down to Hilda biting down on the grenade. She could only listen in disbelief. As for the leiline, Gene figured it would be best if Hilda got the short and sweet version of what transpired there. Without going into too much detail, he told Hilda that there was no treasure to be found at the Galactic leiline. But it wasn't as though he left there empty-handed, he thought as he glanced at Melfina. 

"Damn. Looks like I'm in pretty good shape, all things considered." Hilda mused. 

"But what's the last thing that you remember Hilda?" Melfina asked. 

She really had to think about that for a moment. What she did remember had been slowly giving way to speculation about what had happened to her and the others. Facts were becoming harder to come by as time limped along. 

"I'm not sure Mel." Hilda finally spoke up after a long silence. "I don't remember actually being at Farfallas, playing chicken with the Ctarl Ctarl battleship or even leaving Blue Heaven. I just remember waking up from a cold-sleep tube on a space station with a change of clothes and that a few months ago." she pointed to a black briefcase at the back of the bridge. A change of clothes, a laptop with data on the ship, a pistol and some ammo were the most compelling items inside. "I was on my way to Blue Heaven when I saw XGP on the news." She paused and looked at Gene. "The Outlaw Star......You really named this after me?" 

Gene nodded. 

"I didn't know you cared." she laughed. 

"Don't let it go to your head." 

"What about the Ctarl Ctarl and her?" Aisha was gone, but Hilda gestured towards Suzuka. 

"They've been with us for almost as long as you've been...." Melfina paused, trying to search for the right word ".....gone." 

Jim looked around and was the only one to notice Aisha's absence from the bridge. He headed back towards the galley and found here there, quietly seething. 

"What's wrong Aisha?" he asked. It should've been self-explanatory. He didn't realize how stupid a question that was until he heard himself blurt it out. 

"That.....bitch...." Aisha said through clenched teeth. With the image of the one-eyed Outlaw on the Orta Hone-Hone's viewscreen in her mind, she was looking around for things to smash. The fact that Hilda was still alive showed a large degree of restraint on her part. "I say we get rid of her now. Even if she really is Hilda......" 

"But Aisha......" Jim started to say. Saying something like 'I know how you feel' would've only made matters worse. He was cut off by an icy glare from the Ctarl Ctarl. 

"You don't know what it's like.....you have NO idea what she took away from me, Jim." she seethed, trying her best to keep her composure in front of her young friend. In her right hand, her fingers were absently running over an ornately decorated Medal- the Order of Klar Klar, a coveted award for meritorious service in the Imperial Deep Space Fleet. Even after her expulsion, Aisha kept it close to her. "My chances of moving up in the Empire are ruined because of her." She wanted to tell him that she could never go home again, but she was superstitious enough to believe that telling him out loud would guarantee that it come true. The atmosphere in the galley was thick with tension. After a moment, the boy-genius steeled himself for the cat-girl's wrath as he decided to break the silence. 

"You're right, Aisha. I'll never know what she took away from you." Jim said with a hint of resignation as he looked up at her. Even at just over 5 feet, she still was petite and imposing at the same time. Considering how good she had been to him over the past year or so while asking for very little in exchange, it truly bothered him to see Aisha like this. However, he still felt the need to speak his mind. 

"But what I do know is that if it wasn't for Hilda, we wouldn't have gotten this ship. Not only that, you and I would've never met." Jim continued. He realized that perhaps it would be best to make himself scarce as soon as possible and left without seeing the expression on Aisha's face change. She was furious with him for a moment- what unmitigated gall the kid had. However, instead of shouting back at him, Aisha realized that he was right. Seconds blurred into minutes while she stood there tightly clutching the medal. Aisha hadn't really thought of it that way. For better or worse, this was the path the Creators had guided her down. She gritted her teeth a little before sighing and then letting out a small chuckle. 

"Dammit, kiddo." she reluctantly grinned, knowing full well that Jim couldn't hear her. "You know I can't stand it when you're right all the time." 

** 

The cub-fighters circled quickly and menacingly around the derelict, unoccupied Space-Forces freighter. From a distance they looked like hornets. However, their sting was far more lethal than any insect's. Ewan Craven glanced at the Silgrian delegation gathered next to him. He figured he had built up the suspense long enough. 

"Now." he ordered through a headset. 

Steel projectiles moving nearly one-quarter the speed of light were fired from the rail-guns on two of the cub-fighters. They easily sliced through the considerable armor on the elderly ship- the Space Forces Aurora-class freighter Dnieper. Even from their enclosed viewing platform several hundred kilometers away, the Silgrian delegates could see pieces of the ship being torn away from the cub-fighters strafing it. The Dnieper had about as much of a chance of survival as a raw steak tossed in a cage with two hungry tigers. Once more, the ship was being strafed but this time with High Explosive rounds. The result was devastating and the reaction from some of the delegation was horror. 

"Very impressive..." a Silgry in an ornately decorated military uniform said to the President and CEO of Craven Industries. 

"I'm glad you like it." Craven replied. "It makes hardly any difference if that were a freighter or a Kei Pirate carrier. All it would take is a handful of cub-fighters equipped with our latest rail-gun to reduce them to a debris field." 

"Don't misunderstand us, Mr. Craven" on of the shocked delegates spoke up. "As you may already know, we Silgrys are a relatively peaceful species. We thrive on commerce, not conflict...." 

"I completely understand....." Craven nodded. 

"However, commerce is our lifeblood." the Silgry in the fancy uniform spoke up "and these incursions into our territory by the Terran pirate guilds is threatening that commerce. We find this most unacceptable." 

"Yes, and the treaty being drawn up right now would greatly expand trade between the Silgry homeworld's with the Earth Federation, including the possibility of the Royal Silgry Stellar Guard outfitting their fleet with Human-manufactured weapons...." he was about to say more when his assistant, a petite woman with long jet-black hair appeared, silently indicating that he had a call. 

"You'll have to excuse me for a moment...." he said as he stepped out of the observation room on his privately owned ship. 

"It's her." the assistant said. 

Craven opened up a laptop and inserted some encryption and scrambling software. In a few seconds, they verified that nobody was eavesdropping and had obscured the image of his face. 

"What is it?" he asked. This had better be good enough to have pulled him away from his most convincing sales pitch of the decade. 

"I thought you might be interested in an update." Takana's voice spoke up as her image flickered into focus on the monitor. 

"Do you have her?" 

"Not yet. I talked to one of her old friends from Blue Heaven, he was *most* co-operative. It seems she got rid of Horus, faked her death and has been laying low since then." 

"Is that a fact?" How strange. This whole mess with Hot Ice Hilda had started over Horus. 

Takana nodded."It seems I underestimated how resourceful she can be...." 

"You're not the only one." Craven said absently. 

"Have there been any additional change of plans that I should know about?" Takana asked. 

"No. I'd still like to see her brought in alive." 

"Consider it done. I'll call you again and name my price when I have her." the screen went blank. 

The CEO chuckled. The tracker-killer Takana Jaci Jaci was reputed to be the best at her craft, and although Ewan Craven didn't dispute that, he viewed her as nothing more than a stupid creature who was only concerned about money and getting high off of that root she carried around with her. Still, he had already gotten his money's worth from her by simply confirming that Hilda was alive. He also had to respect her to some extent because even though she was only a half-step above a common whore, she wasn't nearly as pretentious as those walking, talking emu birds in the next room. They had no idea that the demonstration of firepower on the Dnieper was only a small part of a larger demonstration. Once the Royal Silgry Stellar Guard started decimating the Kei pirates with the weapons he built, the Pirates would come to him, almost begging for the same weapons. And Craven would gladly sell them to the pirates through back channels, letting them know what a good deal they were getting while charging three times what the Silgrys had paid. It was nothing he hadn't done before with the Kei guild, the Ban pirates, the Space Forces and the Tenpa Empire's Autounmous Fleet. This would be a chance to increase his sales among other species. 

Now that he thought about it, there was a small dispute between the Silgry and Ctarl Ctarl over mineral rights on a moon that was orbiting the frontier of the 29th Ctarl Ctarl colony and a fairly empty quadrant of Silgry Stellar Territory. Perhaps it could escalate into an armed conflict. 

So many puppets- so little time. 

** 

"I'm not sure if this is the time or the place, Aniki....." Jim said ".....but were you able to get a deposit from Fred? We've only got one day left to register the ship." 

"Dammit, that's right!" Gene said, completely forgetting about the matter after seeing Hilda back from the dead. "I hate to say it, but it looks like the ol' ball and chain frowns on Fred's gambling. He even offered a full-fledged sponsorship deal, but Reiko wasn't about to let him" 

"Gambling?" Jim yelped. "I resent that! It's implying that there's a chance we won't finish in the money! Besides, even if you can call that gambling, that should be the least of Reiko's worries about her dream hubby! What a wet blanket she turned out to be." 

Hilda looked up from the monitor and chuckled as she listened to Jim. Even when they first met on Sentinel, it was pretty clear the kid was the brains of the little outfit. She had to admire the unflagging confidence the kid had, not only in the ship, but his own abilities as well. Hot Ice Hilda had never had the honor of meeting Fred Luo herself, but as the conversation continued she supposed it was for the best. "Don't despair, partner. Fred was able to wire us a few thousand Wong under the table." 

"Exactly how many?" 

"Fifty thousand. I checked the account this afternoon." 

"Huh? That's chump change!" Jim said, clearly insulted. 

"He said it was all he could give me without the little lady getting suspicious." 

"I still say we tell Reiko about his other amorous pursuits!" Jim growled. 

"Jim!" Gene said in a mocking tone. "That would be blackmail. We wouldn't want to do that to good ol' Fred." He paused. "We're less than a hundred thou short of the registration fee. Something juicy like that should fetch at least into the upper six figures! We'll save it for a rainy day." 

As Gene and Jim were discussing the finer points of blackmailing Fred, Hilda continued sifting through official information about the racecourse on the ship's computer. There was something on the screen that had her undivided attention- a real-time feed from one of the checkpoints. Barely visible off in the distance was an old satellite. It was in almost the exact same location she had seen it last- several weeks before she had even set foot on Sentinel. 

"I'll pay the difference for the ship's registration." Hilda spoke up. She gently tapped the closed briefcase with the side of her foot and it fell on its side. Another tap and it went spinning across the floor of the bridge and came to a stop in front of the red-haired Outlaw and boy genius. "On one condition....." 

Not quite sure what to make of all this, Gene cautiously picked up the case and opened it up. Aside from the pistol and portable computer, there wasn't anything of apparent interest inside. Hilda got up and walked over to the two. Taking it away from Gene, she none-too delicately tore into the interior lining of the case. Although Jim was too short to see it right away, Gene's attention was fixed by a violet gleam. Lining the interior of Hilda's attache case was pure, crushed Dragonite- more than enough to pay the registration five times over. 

"That would be...?" 

"I get to ride along with you, Cherry. This is something I've gotta see for myself." 

Jim looked bewildered as he finally caught a glimpse of the Dragonite. 

"Deal." Gene said without even thinking. 

** 

The only daughter of Aryo Jaci-Jaci was on another transport flight, this time to the heart of Heiphong. For awhile, she thought she'd have to call upon her employer's resources to help her search for Hilda's new partner. She didn't want that, since Craven's people could've very easily taken over if they knew exactly what she was after. If the man was to pay her five million Wong in cash as well as some real-estate on Tenrei and fifteen minutes alone with the Outlaw Hilda, she figured he should be updated on her progress, even if she was trying to be as ambiguous as possible. 

As it turned out, finding a fresh lead on Captain Gene Starwind wasn't as difficult as she had anticipated. There was a hit on a net-directory search of Starwind from the planet Sentinel the little Corbonite had told her about. It was a small fix-it shop called Starwind and Hawking and located in a city called Lotus, but apparently they had moved and set up shop on Heiphong. The little unassuming advertisement was there in the directory, along with the slogan "We fix everything from tractors to relationships". Takana took that claim with a grain of salt. Next to the logo was something she didn't expect to see. Takana smiled as she saw that the updated listing in the Starwind and Hawking directory came complete with a street address. The woman had gall, if nothing else. If she was indeed with Captain Gene Starwind, that meant Hilda was hiding out right under the nose of Takana's employers. 

**   
  


For the time being, the Outlaws had increased their numbers to six. They all crowded into the Ehefau as they made their way back to the Starwind and Hawking offices. For the first time in nearly a week, Aisha, Jim and Suzuka slept in their own beds. It had been a long day at the spaceport, and each of them drifted off to a brief and somewhat restless sleep. Even if Hilda wasn't back from the dead tomorrow was still going to be a busy day. There was still the matter of paying for the registration, tending to any last minute preparations that Gillium would recommend and- perhaps most importantly- attending the pre-race luncheon. Gene and Melfina decided they had some catching up to do with Hilda, although owing to her memory loss, the conversation was a bit one-sided. Much to Gene and Melfina's surprise, Hilda didn't press the matter of the Leiline that much, although she appeared to be a little bit surprised to hear that such a place existed. 

As exciting as it was to have a visitor from beyond the grave, Melfina and Gene were also starting to feel sleepy. Hilda had gone without any sleep for quite some time- at least 36 Terran hours- although the prospect of catching up with the XGP, Gene, Jim and Mel after all this time was quite motivating. The resurrected Outlaw wound up taking a catnap on the downstairs sofa. After a few hours, she was up and furtively poring over information that was scrolling across her laptop's screen. It had everything to do with the XGP's navigational programming and command override protocols. The information was clearly a duplicate copy, but she had what she needed to know. **But enough of that, there's a race to be run today** she smiled to herself as the dawn sunlight finally shone through one of the windows. 

** 

Within a few hours, Gene, Mel, Hilda, Aisha and Jim were on board the Outlaw Star as it headed for the pre-race assembly area. Suzuka didn't express any interest in coming along and decided to stay behind to see what the official line on the Outlaw Star was at the casinos. There were a few last minute touch-ups to be done, but Gillium advised the others that he could do the work himself in zero-gravity. This was being taken care of as the others decided to attend the pre-race ceremonies. 

"Are you sure it's such a good idea to be out in public if there are people out to kill you?" Gene asked Hilda on their way off of the ship and into the satellite that housed the officials and ceremonies. 

"I'll be fine- did you bother asking yourself the same question last year?" 

"Good point." 

Aisha could barely contain her enthusiasm. Having worked there last year, she knew that there was a big luncheon waiting for her at the banquet hall. She was also a little bit giddy knowing that their odds of finishing in the money had greatly improved this year. It felt nice to be part of a winning team, but the only setback was her deep mistrust of Hilda. Of course, if Hilda tried anything, the odds would be at least four to one. 

"Hurry up! Let's grab something to eat and win this thing already!" Aisha cheered as she tousled Jim's hair and started running ahead of the others. 

"Take it easy Aisha. We still have at least three hours and it looks like we'll be starting from the middle of the pack again." Jim said. 

"Yeah, but at least we won't be stopping to pick up any unwanted hitchhikers this year." Gene said. 

Aisha scowled at Gene and stuck out her tongue. Jim could only shake his head and chuckle slightly. **She's just like a big kid...** he mused to himself. 

"Stopping to pick up Aisha wasn't nearly as costly as that missile attack that sent us off course." Melfina diplomatically pointed out. 

The five of them walked into the spacious banquet hall. There was some polite applause as one of the officials wrapped up his speech the moment they walked in. Already, the buffet was set up. 

"Remember, Aisha..." Jim almost whispered in a mischievous tone "This meal essentially cost us 150,000 Wong, so you might as well get your money's worth." 

"Mmmm-Hmmm!" she enthusiastically nodded. "I'll be over by the buffet if you need me." It was almost like letting a bull loose in a china shop. 

** 

**Some of last year's favorites, including top two finishers Sunbeam 545 and Bonaparte as well as privateers Blue Continental and Outlaw Star have been confirmed as making another run for the cup. There's a grand total of forty-seven ships competing this year. Bonaparte is a heavy favorite this year while there are a number of new ships that may pull off an upset......** 

Suzuka stopped looking at the TV monitor in the casino and turned her attention back to the roulette wheel. Thirteen black. The dealer placed a few hundred Wong worth of chips in front of her. This was actually getting tedious. 

She collected her chips and handed them to a waiter. 

"Fifty-thousand on the Outlaw Star." 

** 

The Outlaw Star was the next ship to start. Thirty-four ships had left prior to them, and there were twelve more in line behind them. Aisha had helped herself to a lot of everything at the buffet in the banquet hall and was now helping herself a doggie-bag that consisted almost entirely of shrimp cocktail. 

"Tell me-" Hilda said, looking over Jim's shoulder. "Is this the same course as least year?" 

"Not quite. They eliminated one of the alternate checkpoints past the binary planet. Other than that, it's still the same." 

That was welcome news as far as Hilda was concerned. For a moment, she was afraid that she had gotten her information from an outdated map of the racecourse. The map showed no alternate checkpoints, meaning that the one checkpoint within visual range of the old satellite which she saw earlier would still be in use. 

"So it's pretty straightforward, then." 

Gene was fidgeting anxiously- just waiting for the green light. 

"Yeah. Guess they decided to alter it after a couple of ships got caught up in an ether current." 

There was a beeping and a course official appeared on the monitor. 

"Ready to go, Outlaw Star?" 

"You bet!" Gene replied. 

"OK then- Outlaw Star, you've got the green light.: 

With that, the XGP took off. 

** 

**Blue Continental and Vostok are almost a dead heat for first place. We've just been informed that the Sunbeam 545 has dropped out due to engine trouble. It's a little disappointing to see the Sunbeam drop out this early, since that's a ship fans could usually count on to be competitive. The last group of ships has cleared the second checkpoint.** 

Suzuka watched the monitor impatiently, waiting for word on the Outlaw Star. She had yet to be informed of their progress. Almost as if on cue, the announcer spoke up again. 

**...and the Outlaw Star, which started in 35th place has now cleared the third checkpoint. So it has moved up to eleventh place. So far an impressive run from last year's first place privateer winner- perhaps looking for a repeat performance....** 

** 

All ships passing though the third checkpoint, also known as Lione Lagrange checkpoint, had to decelerate owing to the considerable debris field that had accumulated in the area. 

"Third checkpoint cleared!" Melfina announced. 

"Come on Gene! Let's blow the rest of these slowpokes out of sub-ether!" Jim said. 

Hilda realized that if she was going to do this, now would have to be the time. It was a damn shame, too. They all were doing much better in the race than she thought. 

"Gillium- Leiline Project Override Code 5-N-2-4-P-9. Bring all engines to full stop, now!" 

Except perhaps for Aisha, none of them could really believe what was going on until they felt the ship decelerating. 

"Hilda? Engine output has ceased entirely." Melfina stated. She was hoping that the Outlaw would explain exactly what happened. 

"What the hell are you doing, Hilda?" Jim asked. 

"What does it look like? I'm taking over." she replied bluntly as she pressed her pistol to Gene's temple. With her free hand, she removed the Caster from Gene's waistband, her hand lingering perhaps a second longer than necessary along Gene's inner thigh. "Pardon my reach..." she playfully whispered in the Outlaw's ear. She turned her attention to the ship's computer. "Gillium. Open a channel to the course marshall and tell them that the Outlaw Star is withdrawing due to engine problems." 

"Worthless Terran! I knew you would show your true colors soon enough!" Aisha snarled. 

"Do the math, Hilda- there's four of us and no place for you to go." Gene said. Hilda was one of the few people who confronted Gene unarmed. She caught him with his pants down, so to speak. 

"You're forgetting...." she wagged her finger at the red-haired Outlaw. "There's two of us. Just to let you know, Gillium will only take orders from me now." She looked past Gene and towards Aisha. Hilda could think of only one way to deal with her. 

"Gillium?" 

"Yes?" 

"If my vital signs are terminated, I want you to blow the air-locks open." 

"You're bluffing..." Aisha growled. 

"Am I? Then why don't you go ahead and call my bluff." she said as she holstered the pistol. 

Aisha's gaze shifted from Jim, then to the Outlaw and back. If it were just her and Gene, she would've been more than willing to take that chance, but she didn't want to gamble with Jim's life or Melfina's. 

"Do you understand me?" Hilda asked the ship's computer. 

There was a pause- reluctance on the computer's part. "Affirmative." Gillium said. The window of opportunity to overpower Hot Ice Hilda and take back the ship had now closed. 

"Now...." She said to Gene. "Suit up, Gene. You and I are going for a walk." 

** 

Suzuka was still at the casino when she saw from the coverage of the race that the Outlaw Star had dropped out due to mechanical problems. She tore up her betting form for the second year in a row. Twenty thousand Wong- gone, just like that. East come, easy go. The assassin had plenty of time to mull it over on the long walk back to Starwind and Hawking. Losing the money wasn't what bothered her. After spending all those nights prior to the race in her quarters on the ship, she knew that Jim, Aisha and Gillium were working almost non-stop so that the ship would be running like clockwork. The assassin also had every bit of faith that the boy would have the ship in top working order for the race. 50,000 Wong worth of faith, as a matter of fact. She still did. Now that Hilda was on board, the Outlaw Star suddenly developed this mysterious mechanical problem that required them to withdraw from the race. Strange indeed. 

The metallic door to Starwind and Hawking opened with a creak. Suzuka wanted nothing more than to fix herself a piping hot kettle of tea and draw a nice warm bath. Almost as soon as she stepped through the door, the dark-haired assassin tensed up. Somebody was already inside. Gene, Jim, Hilda, Aisha and Mel were stuck somewhere on the racecourse in a supposedly disabled spaceship. She looked up to see the silhouette of another unwelcome visitor backlit. It looked like a female Ctarl Ctarl. The intruder spoke to Suzuka with a sort of malicious glee in her voice. 

"Can Hilda come out and play?" 


	4. Professional Courtesey

  
  


"What the hell are you doing, Hilda?" Jim asked, clearly agitated. "We're so close- why did you tell the marshall that we're withdrawing!?" 

" Think of it as a very worthwhile pit-stop. I know it's hard, but you're going to have to trust me on this." Hilda said. 

"Trust you?" Aisha screeched "You've done NOTHING to earn our trust!" 

She ignored Aisha as best she could and looked at Jim. "What's the award for finishing in the money here? One hundred thousand Wong?" 

"Yeah, first place is....." 

"Forget it. The prize money's chump change compared to what I'm after. Trust me Jim; pull this off and all of us will be rich." 

"What are you talking about Hilda?" Gene asked impatiently as he got into his space-suit."You'll see....I'm not exactly the sharing type, but if all goes well there's gonna be more than enough to go around." She turned to face Aisha. "Consider this a mutually beneficial arrangement. It's something that can even get you back into the good graces of the Empire." 

That little comment had the Ctarl Ctarl's undivided attention. Aisha had every reason to doubt what Hilda had said since she re-emerged from hiding, especially now. But after hearing those words she found herself **wanting** to believe the Outlaw, even though she hadn't done anything to earn her trust. 

** 

"I'm afraid you've wasted your time. Hilda isn't......" 

"YOU LIE!" Takana screeched at the assassin. "I can tell. Her stink is all over this place. She's been sleeping there for the past few days." she pointed to the sofa that Hilda had slept on for the previous two nights. 

"Hilda isn't here at the moment." Suzuka said, sounding not unlike a schoolteacher annoyed at the unruly student who keeps interrupting her lesson. Her hand was resting firmly on her bokken's grip. 

"Then where is she?" Takana challenged. 

"I suggest you turn on the television and find out." 

The tracker-killer looked bewildered as she stepped out into the light and descended the stairs. She had been there long enough to shed her black cloak and was wearing a two-tone grey dress not unlike Aisha's. Suzuka eyed the intruder as she walked down the stairway and saw that the intruder was noticeably taller than Aisha. Her hair was darker and only came down to her shoulders. Instead of a bell, she wore a necklace with a golden claw-shaped pendant affixed. On each wrist was a bracelet and she had a metallic belt with a large oval-shaped ring above over belly. 

The TV screen flickered to life and after a few moments, Takana saw exactly what the kimono-clad Terran was talking about. Even though there was no audio from the TV, the newscast showed periodic footage of the Outlaw Star among the other ships that had withdrawn from the race. Takana recognized the red vessel from the Blue Heaven's registry database. 

"You mean to tell me she's up there right now?" Takana asked Suzuka. 

"Mmm-Hmm." there was a small grin creeping across the assassin's face. 

The tracker-killer growled in frustration as she suddenly leapt through the air towards Suzuka. As she did so, a potentially lethal gust of wind flew directly beneath her and slammed into the kitchen table, sending it and some of the chairs crashing through the wall on the far end of the offices. Suzuka had missed the intruder by mere inches, but remained in her fighting stance and had the intruder's undivided attention. Again, the assassin and Ctarl Ctarl glared at each other from across the room. 

"That bears a resemblance to the ancient Opal Claw fighting technique." the Ctarl Ctarl chuckled, openly admiring her adversary's fighting style. "I didn't think that was known outside the Empire". Before Suzuka could respond or use another of her secret techniques, Takana suddenly performed a series of well-executed backflips, moving away from Suzuka and up the stairs before pausing for a moment. This individual didn't strike Suzuka as the type to run away after a demonstration of her skill- Suzuka could only wonder what she was up to. After getting a two-step head start, the Ctarl Ctarl leapt onto the railing and from there leapt further up and was now clinging to one of the spindly rafters on the ceiling with one leg and one hand. Takana used her free hand to unfasten her belt and held onto it by the ring in the center. Suzuka saw that it wasn't a belt at all, but some sort of metallic bolo that had weights on each end. The air started to whistle softly as the tracker-killer spun it around by the metallic ring. 

Suzuka feinted left and Takana maneuvered the bolo accordingly. As she moved back to her right, Takana released the spinning bolo. The kimono-clad assassin felt it whistle past her head by less than an inch as she ducked down and there was a very loud metallic crashing behind her. She turned around to see one of the free-standing metal lamps by the sofa was shorn cleanly in half by Takana's bolo. 

It was a diversion- Suzuka swore at herself for not recognizing it sooner. Takana sprang down from the ceiling, Suzuka tried countering with a Hi'an variant. Another focused whirlwind blew past, barely missing Takana and knocking a sizeable hole on the ceiling. Chunks of plaster rained down, but before the tracker-killer could close the distance with Suzuka, she practically flew past Takana, landed on the upstairs railing and then leapt onto the ceiling rafters, next to the hole she had created. As Suzuka deftly climbed through it, the Ctarl Ctarl looked on in quiet admiration as she scooped up her cloak and bolo-scythe. Just as Suzuka realized throwing the bolo at her was merely a diversion, Takana understood that Suzuka's putting a hole in the roof was in part an invitation to fight her on a setting slightly more advantageous to her as she followed the Terran assassin onto the roof of Starwind and Hawking. 

** 

"Depressurization complete." Gillium announced as the Outlaw Star's airlock slid open. Gene looked past Hilda. Outside, beyond her, was infinity. Already he was starting to feel dizzy as he braced himself against the door. 

"You OK Gene?" Hilda asked. 

"I'm fine." he said, even though it was far from the truth. Inside the space suit it was very claustrophobic and almost suffocating, yet it was the only thing separating him from an endless and unforgiving vacuum. The same one that had swallowed up his father. 

"Good, then let's get going. Nothing like a tandem space-walk for rest and relaxation." she said as she gingerly swatted his backside through the suit. That was just enough to send him floating out of the air-lock. Hilda followed after him. There were two lines to keep them tethered to the ship and serve as a backup oxygen supply should something go wrong with the one on the suits. Gene remembered the steel cable that was coiled around the Outlaw Star's arm and serving as Hilda's lifeline. These lines were much flimsier. 

"Vital signs, Mel?" Hilda asked as they floated along. 

"You're reading normal so far....." the bio-android said over the earpiece inside Hilda's suit. 

"Not me....the cherry. Gene looks like he's about ready to shit his pants." 

"I am not!" he said defensively. 

"Nothing out of the ordinary. How are you feeling, Gene?" 

"So far so good, all things considered." Gene turned to Hilda. "So why do you need me out here?" he asked the Outlaw as they made their way to a derelict communications satellite, pockmarked with dents after colliding with all sorts of small meteors. 

"Insurance. Jim's a smart kid, and I'm sure he and Mel can figure out something to take back control of the ship. But they're less likely to leave me stranded here if you're with me." she said as she made her way around the satellite, gently tapping the side of it. 

"Care to tell me what it is you're after that's costing us the race? It doesn't have anything to do with the Leiline, does it?" 

Hilda shook her head no. "Not really." 

"Then what is it?" Gene asked impatiently. 

"You'll see soon enough." she knew that she was speaking over an open channel which Aisha, Jim and Melfina could hear as well. "All of you." 

** 

Hilda's voice was tinny and distant inside the ship. Yet Aisha, Jim and Mel were hanging on every word the Outlaws had to say. 

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Jim ask Gillium. 

"I'm sorry, but Hilda has overridden the command programming." The computer said apologetically. After a brief pause he continued "However, she has only given me a limited number of instructions...." 

"Such as?" 

"Maintain our present position and blow open the air-locks should her biological functions be terminated for any reason. Yet I would not be obligated to report to her any attempt to bypass whatever limited command protocols she has already established so far." 

Mel and Jim were beginning to catch onto what the computer was trying to tell them. On the other hand, Aisha looked positively confused. The boy genius slid out of his seat and made his way to the toolkit he kept in his quarters, promptly returning with a screwdriver and some pliers. 

"I'll bring up a diagram of the command circuitry panel...." Melfina offered from inside the tube. 

"Good idea, Mel. Aisha? Could you hold onto these panels?" 

"How are we going to know if this works?" Aisha asked the boy genius. 

"Well, if we suddenly get sucked out into space, it's a pretty safe bet that we screwed up somewhere along the line." Jim countered. 

** 

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight as she crawled through the hole, but Takana could make out a shape closing in on her from above. It had the be the Terran, exploiting that moment of weakness. Instinctively, Takana rolled out of the way a fraction of a second before the bokuto blade sliced through the roof of the building. As soon as her eyes adjusted and she caught sight of the assassin, Takana began furiously spinning the bolo again. Suzuka caught this as she was recovering from her attack moments ago and dodged the bolo-scythe once again. It whistled past Suzuka and sliced through the air-conditioning unit behind her. A cloud of dust shot forward from the ground in front of the Kimono-clad assassin as Takana somersaulted over the assassin and landed next to the ruined air-conditioning unit to retrieve her weapon. Immediately, she recovered her bolo and once again began spinning it. Suzuka was ready. As Takana was ready to release it, the assassin held her ground- she would only have one shot at this. 

As far as the tracker-killer was concerned, there would be no missing this time. She looked at Suzuka as she released the bolo. As the bolo closed in, it began to slow down. Suzuka was now in a fighting posture. The bolo was caught up in a dark whirlwind and began to meander aimlessly like driftwood in a fast-moving current. Takana realized too late that the whirlwind was closing in on her. It felt like a giant was dragging her from behind as she slammed into the concrete wall of the little enclosure that led to the rooftop from inside. The bolo clattered harmlessly to the ground in front of the semi-conscious Ctarl Ctarl while her cloak fluttered down like a feather from a crow that had taken flight. 

It was a slight variation of one of her secret Crimson techniques- strong enough to kill an unsuspecting person. The kimono-clad assassin hoped that it would be enough to at least incapacitate a Ctarl Ctarl. Suzuka saw that the intruder remained perfectly still. She didn't like what was going on since Hilda showed up. First the unwelcome intrusion onto the ship, then the Outlaw Star drops out of the much anticipated race due to causes unknown with her on board, and now a very dangerous individual had shown up on their doorstep looking for Hilda. Suzuka's intuition told her that this unwelcome guest was a professional, but she also knew that something happened to Takana that made it personal. 

Suzuka turned her attention back to the Ctarl Ctarl. She was dismayed to see that Takana was wincing in pain and gingerly unscrewing the pendant around her neck while extracting something from it. Suzuka didn't expect that maneuver to kill her but she shouldn't have been moving again so soon, either. Two fingers went from the pendant to the tracker-killer's mouth. The beast-girl exhaled sharply and Suzuka saw that her whole body was shuddering for a moment. 

Takana got to her feet and rotated her neck clockwise before she dusted herself off. She looked at Suzuka and smiled. 

"That was quite a workout. I have to say, you're good!" 

"Is that a fact? In all honesty, I find you to be a rather tedious and predictable opponent. Using any of my secret techniques on you would simply be a waste of time." Suzuka said calmly. It was a bluff on Suzuka's part. She was hoping the tracker-killer would lose her temper and become careless. However, Takana didn't take the bait. Not only could her already quick and formidable reflexes go unmatched while under the influence of the root, but she found it shielded her from pain and she also became more calm and collected. It soothed her more than a lover's caress. 

"It's a shame you feel that way. I didn't think you Terrans could put up such a spirited fight." she walked towards the beautiful assassin, composed and unafraid. For the first time in a long time, Suzuka had no idea what to do. Usually, her victims opponents would either attempt to run away, plead for their lives or try and rush her. For those that tried to rush her, survival instinct dictated her actions. There was no time to question wether or not she should react in such a manner. This was so very different. None of them- not even Gene- came to her so confident and willingly. The assassin remembered a saying from Old Earth that was very relevant in this situation. **Not one step backwards** 

The assassin and tracker-killer were mere inches apart. Takana looked over her opponent. 

"So tell me, Terran: Will you put up such a fight when I return for Hilda?" 

"There's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Suzuka said. Truth be told, the assassin was thinking that unless the Outlaw came up with some straight answers, Hilda could very well be the next person to feel her blade. 

Much to the assassin's surprise, Takana walked right past her and picked up her black cloak and metallic bolo-scythe from the roof. She draped them both casually over her shoulder as she headed towards the edge of the building. She turned around to face the assassin again. 

"I'm looking forward to it." Takana smiled before she leapt across onto an adjacent roof. 

** 

Hilda floated around the satellite cautiously, making sure that her line didn't get tangled up with either the satellite or Gene's auxiliary line. She was gently rapping on the side of the derelict machine. It was becoming clear to Gene that she was operating on feel. She must have been close, because she pulled out a little handheld scanner from the space-suit and attached a small metal disc with wires to it. After running the disk over the surface of the satellite, she was looking at the readout from the scanner. 

"Bingo..." 

"What is it?" Gene asked. 

"A little something left behind for safe-keeping." Hilda worked on putting the scanner away and produced a multi-purpose tool before unscrewing a panel on the old satellite. 

"You want me to get that?" the red-haired Outlaw offered. 

"Nope-" Hilda said as a four-foot section of the panel was now loose. She brought out the wire-cutters from the tool. Immediately inside the panel were a series of taut plastic wires- apparently a booby trap. Hilda cautiously began cutting select wires while being cautious enough to avoid others. After a tense few minutes, there was enough room for her to reach in and move her hand around freely. Almost gingerly, she reached in and gingerly pulled out a little tan plastic card. It was a little bigger than the credit cards of Old Earth, but it was divided into two parts. There were a series of small holes on each half of the card, almost like a domino. In addition to the holes, there was a series of almost microscopic circuitry panels on one end. To Hilda, it was the most beautiful thing she had seen since re-awakening. 

"Is that what you came for?" Gene asked. "What is it?" 

"Something very valuable- come on..." she motioned back to the ship. After proceeding a few meters, Hilda stopped and scooped up a floating meteor the size of a large pebble. Gene looked on with curiosity as the Outlaw pitched it towards the panel that she opened up. The little meteor hit one of the wires Hilda didn't disconnect and there was a small explosion. It wasn't very dangerous at their range, but had it gone off while the two of them were next to the panel, it would've been strong enough to puncture both of their space-suits. Hilda looked at Gene to let him know that was why she decined any assistance from him. The two Outlaws made their way back to the ship. 

As soon as the airlock was pressurized, Hilda and Gene began working their way out of their space-suits. However, Hilda was in for a very nasty surprise. The second she emerged from the airlock, a pair of hands grabbed her and threw her against the wall. She saw stars for a few seconds, but when they cleared she was face to face with Aisha. 

"We want answers and we want them NOW-" Aisha snarled 

"Gillium-" almost as soon as she said that, Aisha's hand clamped over the Outlaw's mouth. 

"He's not taking orders from you anymore, understand?" 

Hot Ice Hilda reluctantly nodded. She wasn't surprised that Jim and the others had found a way to bypass her override code, but she didn't count on them doing it so quickly. Gene had now emerged from the airlock and made no effort to intervene. Aisha slowly lowered her hand from Hilda's mouth. However, owing to prior experience, Hilda was very uncomfortable being in such close proximity to any Ctarl Ctarl. 

Aisha looked at Gene and was about to say something when Hilda rammed her forehead into the Ctarl Ctarl's face. It phased Aisha just enough that she loosened her grip and Hilda broke free. But only for a moment. The only course of action Hilda could come up with was to barricade herself in one of the rooms and try to regain control of the ship from one of the circutry panels in their. It was a flimsy plan and she knew it wouldn't buy her that much time, but then again, coming out here was a rather flimsy plan in itself. Aisha solved the problem for her by tackling her and keeping her in a chokehold. The Outlaw was hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched by some of her former allies, but she still had one trump-card to play. Hopefully it would buy her enough time to return to Heiphong. 

"That wasn't very smart. You made me angry...." the Ctarl Ctarl said as she tightened her grip. 

"The Scepter of Orubuu-Ria...." Hilda said before the air was entirely cut off. Much to her surprise, the Ctarl Ctarl suddenly released her 

"What do you know about the Scepter?" Aisha challenged. "That's been missing ever since Terrans looted site of the ruins...." 

Hilda backed away from Aisha and towards the bridge, a satisfied grin on her face. "Platinum scepter adorned with zoomorphic carvings and crushed dragonite chips. One of the few surviving relics of the Empire's Ria Ria Dynasty. It's priceless and I'm the only one who knows where it is. Kill me and it'll never be returned to the Empire." the Outlaw told the ex-Ambassador Plenipotentiary. "But once we get someplace a little less awkward- like back at the offices- I'll tell you everything you want to know." 

** 

On the mute TV, they were showing the post-race celebrations. Not surprisingly, the Outlaw Star and its crew was nowhere to be seen. There was a long wait for the assassin for Hilda to return- waiting for the dark-haired Ctarl Ctarl to possibly reappear and uncertain wether or not Gene and the others would be with her. Suzuka was snapped out of her reverie by some noises outside. The tracker-killer would've been far quieter if she was returning. 

The metallic door swung open and Suzuka approached Hilda almost as soon as the Outlaw walked through the door. She unsheathed her sword and pressed it to Hilda's throat, walking forward as the Outlaw began to stumble back. If Hilda continued forward or even held still, she would've received a free tracheotomy from Suzuka and she couldn't move her head out of the way due to the angle the blade was being held at. Hot Ice was aware of something moist trickling down the front of her throat and realized it was her own blood. The assassin was applying just enough pressure to draw blood, but the look in her eyes made it clear that was as gentle as she was going to be. Hilda felt herself being locked in the assassin's icy gaze. 

"There has been an interesting series of events since your appearance here, I cannot deny that." Suzuka said as she calmly applied a tiny bit more of pressure on the bokuto. "Perhaps you can enlighten me on a few matters, such as why a ship that had several weeks of hard labor devoted to it's upkeep inexplicably dropped out of the space-race once you were on board. Or would you prefer to tell me about a visitor that came by this afternoon?" 

"Visitor?" 

More pressure. Hilda had difficulty breathing now, let alone speaking. 

"A Ctarl Ctarl woman. Dark hair. She asked for you by name." 

After a moment, Suzuka pulled the sword away from Hilda's neck. For a moment- and just a moment- Hilda looked terrified and dismayed, and Suzuka sensed it had nothing to do with the interrogation she was subjecting her to. 

"I wish I could tell you more about our visitor..." she said in all honesty. Hilda pulled up her shirt a little and removed a patch of blood-stained gauze taped to her abdomen. "We've only met once before. All I can tell you is that she did this to me when we met". Suzuka saw a wound that looked like three very nasty slashes, all running parallel to each other. Like claw-marks. 

"And the ship....?" Suzuka asked. 

"Oh, that. Well, I had everything to do with that." the Outlaw said unapologeticaly. "I needed to stop and get this". She produced the security key-card. 

"What exactly is that?" 

"With any kind of luck, it'll be able to solve all of our problems." 

"So you used Gene and the others?". Whatever respect the Outlaw had earned with the assassin for surviving the pirates, her own self-detonation and an ambush by a skilled Ctarl Ctarl killer had simply evaporated right then and there. 

**Will you put up such a fight when I return for Hilda?** Suzuka heard Takana ask her. 

Hilda was silent. She was hoping the assassin wouldn't lose interest in the key-card. However, Suzuka made it clear that she was VERY displeased with her. The tip of the sword was pressing into Hilda's throat again. 

"Gene held you in such high esteem. He told me about your encounter with some of the pirates and how he wouldn't even be able to go out into space if it weren't for you. The ship is named in honor of you...." Suzuka said calmly. "And this is how you've decided to re-pay him? How much of what you told us is true and how much is a lie...?" 

Hilda had enough. The Outlaw swatted the bokuto away from her throat and made it clear to Suzuka that she wasn't easily intimidated. At this point, Aisha walked in through the steel door virtually unnoticed by the two. 

"I didn't ask to be anybody's hero. I'm not lying and keep in mind that I'm the one who provided the funds for them to enter the race in the first place.....: 

"So you could use them?" 

"Don't you dare lecture me! I don't need any shit from the likes of you! Right now, I'm just looking to survive, and this...." she held up the key-card "....is the only thing I have going for me." 

"I don't take betrayal very lightly." The assassin raised her sword and was going to make it clear that Takana's earlier visit should be the least of Hilda's worries. She felt somebody holding her back and turned to see Aisha, her arm firmly wrapped around the assassin's wrist. 

"Don't do it...." she said through clenched teeth to Suzuka. The God of Ctarl knew it was tempting. In the back of her mind, Aisha realized with more than a hint of irony that when Hilda first showed up, she thought it would be Suzuka of all people preventing her from tearing into the Outlaw. 

"You don't have to worry about Gene." Hilda spoke up as she walked away. "He's a big boy and I'm sure he can take care of himself. After a few beers, he'll forget his problems. Besides, he's got his little bio-plaything waiting in his bed when he gets back". Neither Hilda or Aisha noticed the genuinely hurt look on Suzuka's face. Just as she said that, Gene, Jim and Melfina walked through the front door. They didn't catch her last comment. 

"Don't bother waiting up. I'm going out." she announced as she brusquely walked past the trio. 

** 

The beautiful assassin known as Twilight Suzuka wasn't the only one waiting for Hilda to return. Takana Jaci-Jaci didn't go very far after her encounter with Suzuka. She was watching the front door of Starwind and Hawking from a rooftop less than two blocks away. The tracker-killer paid close attention as she saw the car pull up. Five people emerged from the car- the chestnut-haired Ctarl Ctarl tensed as she recognized Hilda. She wasn't that surprised to see that Hilda was in the company of another Ctarl Ctarl, since she had picked up a residual scent from Aisha while she was in the Starwind & Hawking offices. A tall man with bright red hair and a tan cloak lingered around the car along with a smaller dark-haired woman and a small light-haired child. She surmised the man was captain Gene Starwind, although she had no idea who the boy and the other woman were. They spent a few minutes unloading items from the car while Hilda was inside. 

As soon as the woman, boy and red-haired man headed inside, a figure hurriedly emerged from the front door of the Starwind and Hawking building, clad in a burgundy suit and walking at a very brisk pace. It was Takana's quarry. Hilda said something to them and headed down the alley. Even from a distance, Takana sensed all was not well within the walls of Starwind and Hawking. She licked her chops as the Outlaw distanced herself from the building. 

"Alone at last..." Takana whispered to herself. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**A.N.: OH YEAH! PATRIOTS ARE #1!!!! A message for all you bitchy little Choke-land Raiders fans who keep crying "It's not fair!"- It was old 2 weeks ago, and it goes beyond antique now. SO SHUT YER BLACK HOLES AND GET OVER IT!** 


	5. Taking Root

Hilda quietly fumed as she made her way down the alley. She had what she came for, but she still couldn't help but think that going to Gene, Melfina and Jim was a mistake in the long run. After what happened during the race, she figured they had every right to be upset with her. However, there was much more at stake than a race or ego and so far, none of them gave her the chance to explain herself. She was also angry with the woman called Twilight Suzuka for implying that she had lied to Gene and the others. Of course, one doesn't survive on the Frontier worlds by being Miss Congeniality. Not that long ago, Hilda wouldn't have cared what people like Twilight Suzuka had thought about her, but things were a little different now. 

** 

Takana cautiously made her way from rooftop to rooftop, keeping Hilda in her sight. **What could she be up to?** the tracker-killer asked herself. She was certain the kimono-clad Terran had warned Hilda about her. So what was Hilda doing now? She was traveling light, so it was unlikely that she was fleeing. Could the Outlaw be setting up some sort of trap for her, or was she just being careless? 

The tracker-killer got her answer as Hilda walked into a bar further up the street. As she was debating wether or not to go in after Hilda, Takana looked up the alley and saw a platinum-haired Ctarl Ctarl heading the same direction as the Outlaw. While waiting for Hilda at the offices earlier, Takana couldn't help but notice the residual scent of another Ctarl Ctarl in the building. She thought that perhaps it was a waitress making her home in the low-rent district of Heiphong- not entirely unheard of. As she watched Aisha walk past on the alley below, it dawned on her that Aisha was wearing some sort of Imperial Officer's uniform. And she was heading into the same bar as Hilda. Very curious..... 

** 

Almost reluctantly, Aisha had set out on her own from the offices to find the Outlaw. After what Hilda had said about the Scepter, she was reluctant to let the Outlaw out of her sight, even if Hilda proved that she wasn't the best of company. 

Aisha had plenty of time to mull over her current predicament. There was no denying that she had become attached to the Terrans she had been living with all of this time. It was apparent to the others that she considered young Jim Hawking her favorite Terran. And as much as she considered Jim to be just like a little brother at times, she would sometimes catch herself blushing after letting her mind wander and picturing what he would look like in a few years. She knew that day wasn't that far off, either- Humans aged slightly faster than the Ctarl Ctarl. Golden hair was a very coveted and desirable trait, rare among men on the Ctarl Ctarl homeworld. The calm and collected Twilight Suzuka was just as adept at filling the role of the sage, rational elder sister and her fighting prowess was more than worthy of a Noble Ctarl Ctarl's respect and admiration. Melfina was so good-natured and purehearted, she was almost beyond reproach even if her taste in men left something to be desired. Aisha even had to concede that the frequently loathsome Gene Starwind was capable of daring and courageous deeds when called upon to do so. This somewhat odd assortment of Terrans had become a source of comfort for the Ctarl Ctarl, like another family. But as attached as she had become to them, Aisha was compelled to try and return to the Empire and her place in the sun as long as there was Warrior's blood coursing through her veins. It was some sort of unspoken obligation to her ancestors. As long as she tried, Aisha felt she was worthy of the title Immortal Ctarl Ctarl. 

Sitting at the bar was Hilda. Stepping through the front door, she caught the image of the ex-Ambassador in the reflection of the large mirror over the bar. Rather than acknowledge her presence, Hilda simply looked down at her drink. Aisha walked up behind her. 

"The way I see it, you have two choices" Aisha said as Hilda continued nursing her drink. "One is you can calm down, head back with me and tell us why exactly this key you have is so important and what it has to do with the Scepter....." 

"And the other choice?" 

"You try and leave without an explanation, I break both of your legs and leave you in the alley for whoever's trying to kill you." 

Hilda laughed. She didn't doubt the Ctarl Ctarl's ability or willingness to carry out the last statement. She laughed because she found such straightforwardness was very rare in this day and age. "You're an interesting one, Aisha." Hilda remarked as she finished up her drink. "You talk all the shit you want, but you're one of the few people I've met who can back it up." 

The Outlaw left a 5 Wong coin on the bar and headed out the front door with Aisha. After taking a few steps down the alleyway, Aisha held out her hand in front of Hilda. The two of them stopped. 

"Suzu said that a Ctarl Ctarl is after you." she reminded the Outlaw. 

"I'm positive...why do you bring that up?" 

"I smell one." Aisha said. 

"How can you..?" Hilda started to ask. The Outlaw scanned the alley, but didn't see anybody, not even any other humans. Aisha gently tapped her finger on her nose before continuing. Her nose wasn't nearly as good as Takana's, but she knew enough that she was picking up the scent of another Ctarl Ctarl- possibly the same one that came by while she and the others were out. 

"Adult. Female, I think. A few meters ahead and above, trying to conceal herself" Her eyes locked on a flashing neon sign. 

"And I take it she can hear every word we're saying." 

Aisha nodded. 

"Well, I'd hate to keep her waiting any longer." Hilda said as she drew her gun. Aisha barely flinched as the din of gunfire, brass casings and broken glass landing in the alleyway filled her sensitive ears. The neon sign that she pointed to exploded in a shower of sparks and falling glass as Hilda emptied out an entire clip into it. A figure jumped out from behind the falling sign, briefly silhouetted by the other neon signs and a bright crescent moon before falling towards the ground. The large neon sign hit the ground with a loud crash, and more sparks and glass exploded upon impact with the ground. The Outlaw was hoping that she had wounded her would-be assailant, but was dismayed to see her land perfectly in the alley in front of them. She slammed a fresh clip into place. 

"So predictable! You had your chance. You should know by now that weapon isn't going to keep you safe forever, Hilda." Takana smiled, baring her fangs. 

"Then humor me." Hilda said as she leveled the pistol with one hand and began squeezing shots off. Takana leapt forward in a blur and closed the distance with the Outlaw running in a zig-zag pattern. She did this so quickly that it took her no less time to close in on Hilda than if she charged straightforward. The Ctarl bounty-huntress felt a bullet graze her shoulder and rib-cage as she came within reach of Hilda. Before she could wrap her arms around her quarry, Hilda produced a Taser with her free hand and jabbed it into the side of Takana's neck. The bounty-huntress shrieked as 20,000 volts of electricity coursed through her body before collapsing onto the ground and twitching helplessly. 

"I'm sure a Ctarl Ctarl conducts electricity as well as any other species." Hilda grinned. 

Aisha looked on with curiosity. Despite the subtle hint Hilda dropped about the Scepter earlier, she still wasn't enthusiastically going to jump into a fight on Hilda's behalf. Besides, it looked as though she could hold her own. On the other hand, Aisha found herself wondering about the Ctarl bounty-huntress. She moved closer to the motionless Tracker-Killer, examining her. As she got down on her haunches, Aisha saw a tattoo on Takana's leg, running vertically up the front of her calf. It was written in the Ancient script of the High Ctarl Dialect. 

"She's an ionah...." Aisha said. 

"That supposed to mean something?" Hilda impatiently asked. 

The word could mean 'disowned', 'pariah' or 'lone hunter'. "She's an outcast...." Aisha began explaining to Hilda. It was the closest thing the Empire had to a mafia, pirate guild or gypsies- all rolled into one. A Ctarl Ctarl could become an Ionah for transgressions ranging from mass-murder and war crimes to Imperial Courtesans teaching themselves to read. Or military officers failing to catch wanted Outlaws. It all depended on the mood of the Sentencing Tribunal. There really wasn't a Terran equivalent that Aisha knew of. However, the marking on the leg was that of a true Ionah- one that could never return to society or the homeworld. 

"Meaning she's not here on official business from the Empire....." Hilda surmised. 

Aisha Clanclan nodded. 

Neither of them noticed Takana slowly unscrewing the pendant while curled up in the fetal position. A small pinch of the iaru root extract was clutched between her forefingers as she brought them to her lips. After a few seconds, the effects of the electrical shock were starting to wear off. Sadly for Takana, the psychotropic and hallucinogenic effects of the root had not kicked in yet- the dose wasn't big enough to act as much more than a pain-killer; feeling was starting to return to her arms and legs. Aisha was still on her haunches and turned back to Takana just in time to see one of her hands grab her bell, pulling it forward slightly. Takana then rolled over onto her back and rammed her fist into Aisha's face as she was trying to break free and then launched her into the alley wall with both feet while she had Aisha off-guard. There was an audible cracking of bricks and mortar as Aisha impacted with the wall. 

"Don't interfere, for your sake." Takana hissed sharply at Aisha as she hit the ground. She turned to face Hilda, who took two steps back and raised her pistol. The bounty-huntress responded by raising her arms out to her side, as if offering the Outlaw a free shot. But as Hilda's finger tensed on the trigger, Takana practically flew up into the air, landing on a fire escape above and behind the outlaw. Instead of taking the indirect route to attack Hilda, Takana leapt down on top of Hilda this time. The Tracker-Killer wrapped her arms around Hilda in a bear-hug and slammed the Outlaw back-first into the alley wall while pinning Hilda's arms to her side. The next thing Hilda knew, the bounty huntress tightly clamped one hand around the Outlaw's throat and knocked the gun out her other hand. 

"Your eyes...." Takana whispered softly as she leaned in and saw herself reflected in Hilda's eyes."They're beautiful. I've been waiting SO long to see your eyes like this". She slightly loosened her grip on the Outlaw's throat and her wickedly sharp thumbnail was uncomfortably close to Hilda's right eye and only moving closer. Takana didn't have to say a word in order for Hilda to realize what she was going to do. 

** 

Nobody at Starwind and Hawking was in a good mood, let alone Gene Starwind. He was lying on the sofa, going though an old gun and accessories catalog but it was quite clear to even the most casual observer that he was quite annoyed. The price listed underneath each item only served as a reminder 

Hot Ice Hilda had come back from the grave and was now spoon-feeding him lies, half truths and expertly playing him for a fool. The only thing that he was certain of now was that the two-eyed woman who looked like and acted like Hilda was indeed Hilda in some way shape or form. One hundred and fifty thousand Wong down the drain because of her, just like that. All for a little piece of plastic. And what was it about she said about some Scepter that stopped Aisha from killing her? 

The Outlaw sat up and growled as he blindly pitched the catalog across the room. 

"DAMMIT!" 

Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Melfina had walked in and was standing behind him. 

"What is it Mel....?" he asked, sounding more than a little annoyed. 

She took a step back, with a slightly hurt look on her face. Gene could tell that it had nothing to do with their dropping out of the race. He realized that he shouldn't snap at her like that, but for the time being, everybody here was operating with a short fuse. There was something she wanted to tell Gene that she had been putting off, but ever since Hilda's re-appearance the opportunity never presented itself. 

** 

Takana relaxed her grip on the outlaw's throat as she brought her free hand closer to the Outlaw's right eye, Hilda seized that opportunity and struck the Ctarl Ctarl's injured ear with her fist, breaking free and immediately diving for her pistol on the alley floor. As her fingers wrapped around the grip and she started to roll over- intending to empty the clip in Takana's face- it felt like she was hit by a ton of bricks. Takana kneed her in the side Hilda found herself as equally fucked as before, just in a different position. 

"Are you scared yet, Hilda?" Takana asked as she stood over the Outlaw, one foot firmly planted on top of Hilda's throat and the other pinning the wrist of her gun-hand to the alley floor. The Tracker-Killer applied more pressure. "Don't lie to me, I KNOW you are." 

Already Hilda was struggling to form words. The only thing tarnishing Takana's moment of triumph was the defiant stare in Hilda's eyes as she struggled to breathe. She had come across plenty of Terrans who had begged for their lives- but Takana took them anyway. The bounty huntress knew that Hilda wouldn't give her the satisfaction. 

"....look....you....bitch...." Hilda finally gasped. 

Takana pressed her forefinger to her lips and stared down at the Outlaw "Shhhh....save your breath, Hilda." she sweetly cooed as she applied more pressure to Hilda's throat. "I'll be gentle for now. Believe it or not, you're worth more alive than dead. Of course, by the time I'm finished with you, you'll be **begging** me to kill you." 

".....you.....be-" Hilda struggled to form the words. This only resulted in Takana stepping down even harder on her throat. She was starting to black out. 

"Hmmm...?" Takana asked as she perked her ears. She turned around just in time to see Aisha's fist collide with her face. She stumbled away from the Outlaw and was now face-to-face with a very irate Aisha Clanclan. 

"I said....look behind you, you stupid bitch..." Hilda wheezed as she struggled to get back up. 

Before Takana could regain her composure and counterattack, Aisha closed in and kneed her in the stomach as she tackled her. The two of them flew across the alley and smashed through the plate-glass window of the bar, with the Tracker-Killer bearing the brunt of the impact. Aisha landed on top of the bounty huntress and began pounding her mid-section and head. The few remaining patrons of this particular bar moved as though they were going to break up the fight until they saw it was between two Ctarl Ctarls. 

"I don't care if the Terran lives or dies!" Aisha yelled as she pummeled Takana "....but don't you EVER turn your back after striking me!" 

Takana was unsuccessfully trying to get the former Ambassador Plenipotentiary off of her, but was seeing stars each time Aisha's fist connected. She may have had the enhanced sense of smell and the advantage in stealth and height, but Aisha unquestionably had the edge in pure, raw strength. And she was pissed. Takana tried to break free as she felt Aisha lift her up, but before that could happen the ex-Ambassador swiftly kicked her in the stomach and Takana flew into the wall behind her. There was blackness, punctuated by a million stars exploding in front of her eyes as she was vaguely aware of the cracking of plaster and sliding down to the ground. 

**That bitch! It can't end like this** Takana silently pleaded to nobody in particular as she fought off the darkness **Not humiliated in front of my prey! Not in this filthy place with all of these Terran degenerates watching! NO!** She caught the gleam of her pendant and suddenly realized that it wasn't a plea, it was a vow.... 

Aisha was catching her breath when she heard the *tink* of another shard of glass hitting the ground. Hilda placed her hand on Aisha's shoulder as she climbed through what was left of the window. 

"Don't kill her yet. I have some questions I'd like to ask her." Hilda said. If what Takana had said about being worth more alive than was dead true, then she could only think of one person 

"Like what?" Aisha snapped. 

"I'd be really interested in knowing who hired her." 

The bar's patrons and even the bartender were cautiously making their way to the exits, sensing that their fun at this particular establishment was over for the evening. 

Takana placed an especially thick pinch of the iaru root under her tongue. As far as Takana was concerned, the root and all of its effects were infinitely better than what any mate could offer. No lover could make her feel as powerful and alive or heighten her senses while asking for so little in return like the root could. She let out a sharp moan and her body spasmed as the megadose finally hit her bloodstream. All the pain was starting to ebb from her body already. Takana opened her eyes to see Aisha looking down at her with contempt and anger. 

"Stand up!" Aisha ordered. 

Takana obliged, perhaps far more quickly than Aisha would have liked. Her foot connected with the ex-Ambassador with one sweeping kick. Aisha tumbled through the air and landed on a billiards table behind her, recovering quickly and looking like a sprinter in her starting gate as her talons tore into the green felt of the tabletop. Almost immediately, she got back up and charged Takana. Even though her kicks and punches were more furious than before, the tracker-killer found herself evading them with relative easy. She barely felt the punches and kicks from Aisha that did connect. 

**It feels like......raindrops** Takana mused as Aisha continued to pummel her to no avail. That was the beauty of the root. The things it did to her body.....such beautiful things. It protected her- she could not feel pain when she surrendered herself to the root. Everybody except for her seemed to move in slow motion. Aisha slammed her into the wall and Takana countered by soundly kneeing her in the abdomen and elbowing her in the face and back while she was doubled over. As she watched Aisha hit the floor, the bounty-huntress was aware of something buzzing past her ears while watching Aisha struggle to recover. She turned to see Hilda firing a pistol from across the empty bar- the bullets lazily drifting by her head. 

**Raindrops** 

Hilda was surprised at how quickly Takana was able to tilt up the billiards table. It was now on it's side, five rounds from Hilda's pistol barely able to chew through the thick lacquered wood and green felt of the table, and none of them touching Takana. Hilda knew this and stopped firing. But she had to do something quickly. She looked at the tracker-killer as Takana stepped out from behind the table inhaled sharply then exhaled, almost as if she were meditating. Takana gently tapped Aisha with her foot as she struggled to get back to her feet. The ex-ambassador stumbled and was on her knees, grabbing onto the edge of another billiards table. 

** 

Melfina almost reluctantly began making dinner. She didn't like the tense awkward silence that permeated throughout the building. Even asking how many places to set at the table could've sparked a very nasty and ultimately pointless argument. 

Suzuka was quietly meditating, somewhat disappointed in herself for losing her composure with Hilda and failing to get straight answers from her. The encounter with Takana also weighed on her mind, but not as heavily as Hilda's parting comment about Gene and Melfina. 

The entire building seemed entirely too quiet, and somebody was conspicuous by their absence. Of course they each had seen Hilda storm out. However, Jim was the first one to bring it up. 

"Has anybody seen Aisha?" he asked. 

"Dunno. Maybe she went out looking for Hilda." Gene said as he looked up from his magazine. Under different circumstances, he would've been more concerned about Hilda. Cynically, he knew that Hilda would make her way back because he felt that she wasn't through using them. 

** 

"Now.....where were we?" Takana grinned and asked Hilda. It looked like a stalemate- but Takana was more than willing to break it. Hilda only had a few rounds left in her pistol, and Takana somehow had gotten her second wind. The wheels in Hilda's head were in motion- on a table next to her were two glasses, a bottle of grain alcohol, some cocktail napkins and a flickering candle. The only thing she didn't have was enough time. For some reason, despite all that was going on around her, she took a closer look at the name on the bottle. It was from the bargain-basement Sandoval distillery. 

**Sandoval**. That name should mean something to me, Hilda thought. McCoy and Sandoval- they were two of the names she was supposed to meet up with at Blue Heaven. McCoy backed out of their meeting, but....... 

As she was getting ready to close in on Hilda, a hand shot out and firmly grabbed Takana's calf. The tracker-killer stumbled a little before looking down on Aisha. 

"You again!? I warned you, don't interfere!" she spat at Aisha, who just wasn't giving up. She delivered a swift kick to Aisha's ribs before turning around. 

if nothing else, the kick that sent Aisha tumbling across the floor saved Hilda the trouble of telling the ex-ambassador to move out of the way. Takana saw that Hilda had something in her hands. A bottle of 140-proof alcohol with a flaming piece of paper stuffed into the neck. Aisha continued to roll away from the tracker-killer after being kicked. Takana was unfamiliar with the concept of a Molotov cocktail until Hilda threw one at her and it shattered, bursting into flames at her feet. Burning alcohol spilled forth and the lower portion of Takana's cloak had caught on fire. But even more disturbing for her was she could feel the heat. It could only mean that the megadose of root was starting to wear off already. It was supposed to last longer. She suddenly felt like a bride ditched at the altar. 

"No!" she yelled, as she leapt backwards and on top of the bar. Her cloak was further enveloped in flames as she stumbled, caught herself and landed on the opposite end of the bar. The tracker-killer lost her composure as she frantically tore off the flaming cloak, knocking down several bottles of equally flammable beverages in the process. The cloak was off, but Takana now found herself surrounded by flames as the alcohol that spilled on the ground and the shelves had ignited. Steeling herself, she dove over the bar and through the flames, landing near where Hilda's cocktail had ignited. Her dress was on fire around the hemline, but she was able to beat out the flames. Takana wasn't burned too badly, but fire was one of the few things she feared. The only scent she could pick up now was that of flaming alcohol and her own singed hair. Her ears were picking up the crackle of flames, the occasional bottle of liquor exploding from the heat and sirens in the distance, getting closer. She looked around, expecting to see Aisha and Hilda. However, her prey was gone without a trace. 

** 

The front door to Starwind and Hawking flew open with a loud metallic bang. Jim was startled to see Aisha walking in gingerly with one arm wrapped around Hilda's shoulder for support. At first, he thought Aisha was drunk but quickly dismissed the idea. She had a higher tolerance for alcohol than most humans and wasn't away long enough to go on a bender. 

"What happened, Aisha?" he asked as he bolted out of his seat. 

"It's nothing- I'm fine." she winced as they made their way to the sofa. 

"Let's have a look at you..." Hilda said. 

"Stop making such a big fuss- I'll be OK." Aisha said, mostly to try and reassure Jim. There was a small gash just to the left of her lip and some bruising around her ribs. She also had a sprained ankle from Hilda practically dragging her out of the burning building; Aisha was almost oblivious to the flames as she wanted to finish what Takana had started with her. However, Aisha's pride sustained the most damage, although she proved to both Hilda and Takana that she could take it as well as she could dish it out. It looked like a draw from all outward appearances, but a proud Immortal Ctarl Ctarl could never be satisfied with a mere draw. 

"I'm getting you some ice." Jim offered as he hopped out of the chair and went to the kitchen. 

"Why did you put yourself between me and her?" Hilda asked rather suddenly as the boy left. "Gene told me that I was the one responsible for your demotion." 

The platinum-haired Ctarl Ctarl paused, making certain that Jim was out of earshot for what she hd to say next. "Don't flatter yourself!" Aisha quietly hissed as she glared at Hilda. "You have yet to tell me what you know about the Scepter of Orubuu-Ria. And if I find that you're lying to me, then I want the pleasure of killing you with my own two hands. It's as simple as that." 

Hilda actually smiled at this. "Did I tell you that I find your candor to be a refreshing change?" 

Jim quickly returned with several ice-cubes wrapped in a clean dishtowel. "Are you sure you're OK, Aisha?" the boy asked as he handed her the ice. 

She took it and looked at the boy as she applied the ice to her ankle. Jim looked back at her, more than a little bewildered. The Ctarl Ctarl remained silent. 

"What's wrong, Aisha?" 

"No milkshake? Aisha's really really thirsty, y'know!" she pouted as she tousled his hair. 

The boy stepped away, rolling his eyes. "Did anybody ever tell you you're high-maintenance?" 

"I'm worth it, aren't I?" 

"If you say so...." Jim sighed, not able to tell wether or not she was just teasing him. 

By now, the earlier commotion had brought Gene downstairs and melfina followed Jim out of the kitchen. 

"What happened?" Gene asked. 

"Went out for a drink, ran into an old acquaintence, nearly got killed, started a structure fire..." Hilda said wryly as she sat down in a recliner opposite the sofa "...but enough about my night." 

** 

Ewan Craven's office building held a commanding view of the city of Heiphong. Numerous brightly lit towers, obelisks and pagodas jutted straight up from the earth. However, none of them rose out of the ground as highly as Craven's imposing pyramid-shaped skyscraper complex. The view behind his mahogany desk often made him feel like a god looking down on mere mortals. 

And intuition told him that somewhere down amongst the mere mortals there was the Outlaw Hilda and the Ctarl Ctarl bounty-huntress that he hired to track her down. He knew that Takana was being careful not to tell him too much, otherwise his people might be able to find the Outlaw for themselves- a shrewd move on her part. If he knew exactly where Hilda was, he wouldn't have bothered hiring Takana Jaci-Jaci. 

Craven looked at the empty shelf on the opposite end his office- a stark reminder of what the one-eyed Outlaw took away from him. All that meticulous work for nothing- but that would soon change. 

He stood up from his desk, looking past his reflection in the window down into the etheral sea of concrete, steel and gleaming lights. So close, yet so far.... 

"Come out come out wherever you are...." he said, as though Hilda could hear him. 

** 

Takana got a running head start and jumped off the ledge of the six-storey building. It wasn't that far across, but as she landed on the ledge of the opposite building, she stumbled and began to slip. Pain shot througout her body as she scrambled for a better grip. She heard herself cry out in agony. 

**Shit! What's wrong with me? Even a senile old tomcat could've made that jump with ease!** 

There could be no denying it- she tried another hit of the root after fleeing the burning building, but it had already worn off. The pain was amplified as she pulled her body up along the edge of the building and over the ledge. As much as it shielded her from Aisha's beating, it slowly dawned on her that the large hit of the psychotropic painkiller she took simply delayed the inevitable. Takana stood hunched over and struggling for breath. There were also cuts on her arms and the back of her legs from landing hard on the broken glass. In her pocket, along with the root she was so fond of was a salve that was supposed to treat cut and burns, which she gingerly applied on her wounds. There was a strong and slow burn from the salve as she did this, but she didn't want the wounds to go septic on her. 

**If I'm in this much pain right now, I don't want to think about what the white-haired woman with Hilda could've done to me without this** 

She gently stroked the pendant. Why? Why did Hilda have all of these protectors all of a sudden? What could she be offering them? The dark-haired Terran in the Kimono wasn't as strong as her, but she was very skilled and disciplined. The petite Ctarl Ctarl wasn't as fast as her, but every aching inch of Takana's body knew that platinum-haired Ctarl woman was considerably stronger than her and her senses were good enough to sniff out the ambush she set up for Hilda. Judging from the smell of gun-oil and cordite within the Starwind and Hawking offices, it was safe to assume that there was a small arsenal kept there- most likely belonging to Captain Gene Starwind. Takana chuckled- Boys and their toys. A gun was only good if you could hit what you were aiming at, she smirked. A sharp pain in her ribcage brought her back to harsh reality. 

As determined as she was to resume the hunt, she realized that she was in no condition to continue tonight. The tracker-killer was now exhausted and in considerable pain, and her quarry would be expecting her. She needed to come up with a new strategy. Takana Jaci-Jaci now had to choose her battles and choose them wisely. 

If her employer simply wanted a corpse, Takana could have finished the job tonight. If he wanted her alive, it wouldn't be that much of a problem as long as Hilda was by herself. But now the exact opposite was true. The lone hunter found herself against some formidable opponents who stood between herself and the Outlaw. And now that they knew she was after the Outlaw, they'd be even more cautious and on-guard. 

Takana could only think of one way around that. Separate the weakest from the pack. In order to do that, it appeared as though another visit to the offices of Starwind and Hawking would be in order. For the time being, pain had caught up with her. It would be her only companion as she curled up in a corner on the rooftop for a few hours of fitful sleep. 


	6. A Reasonable Facsimilie

**A.N. Gomen! Sorry this chapter took so long, but I've had a lot on my plate for the past month and a half. Hopefully this will be worth the wait!** 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

**Gene had just finished checking into the hotel on Blue Heaven when Hilda slipped away for a few moments. In an alley less than a block away from the strip-joint she and Gene had just left stood a solitary figure with his back to her. At least it looked solitary from where she stood. It was another person she was supposed to meet at Blue Heaven, a courier-for-hire called Sandoval. Hilda had done business with him on more than one occasion in the past and felt he was one of the few people she could trust, although not unconditionally. Almost as if to illustrate this, she saw that somebody else was in the alley with him. Sandoval was flirting with a light-haired Ctarl Ctarl- one of the dancers from the club. The courier looked as though he was having some success, too. Hilda thought she'd have some fun with this. 

"Honey?" she asked, doing her best to sound like a doting wife as she stepped into the mouth of the alley. "What are you doing here? We're supposed to be on our honeymoon..." Hilda pouted. 

The Ctarl Ctarl dancer's expression changed. She glared at Sandoval before opening the back door to the club and angrily storming back inside. The din of music from inside was cut off as the door slammed shut. 

"Damn it, Hilda! What are you doing?" Sandoval said. "She had a thing for humans, you know!" 

"I'm sure she's not the only one. You'll live.... I want your undivided attention for this." 

The expression on his face was now more somber. "You're really going to go through with it?" 

"Damn straight." 

She handed Sandoval two envelopes. One was his payment and instructions. The second envelope contained what could only be described as a longshot. And Sandoval was the only one who remembered that relatively brief encounter in the alley. 

"Tell me you've got your hands on that sweet new ship by now...." 

The one-eyed Outlaw shook her head. "Not yet, but I have the key component. Getting the ship from here should be a cakewalk." 

"You don't really think this will work, do you?" Sandoval asked her after a lengthy pause. 

"What should it matter to you? You're getting paid no matter what, so quit complaining." she looked at her watch and realized that she should get back to Gene. Sandoval continued to stare blankly at the envelopes in each hand until he felt Hilda none-too-gently smack him in the ass. That got his attention. 

"Get a move on, boy! Chop-chop!" Hilda almost chuckled. 

Well over a year later, Sergei Sandoval was the only one who could remember the encounter. It stayed with him because it was the last time he had seen her alive. After nearly two years, he still found himself wondering what had ever become of Hot Ice Hilda.**   
  


** 

"Jim?" Hilda asked the boy. She saw that he was doting over Aisha, making sure she was comfortable. Jim was doing it because he felt that Aisha would do the same for him if he should become injured or ill. And since she had proven to be far less vulnerable to sickness and injuries than Humans, Jim thought this would be his only opportunity to help her out for quite awhile. Truth be told, the Ctarl Ctarl was enjoying every moment of it. 

"Hmm?" 

"I was wondering if you could do a net directory search for somebody by the name of Sergei Sandoval and a ship called Bela Akula..." she paused and caught a glimpse of Aisha, who looked like she was rather enjoying the attention. "When you have a moment." she added. 

"Who's that?" a voice spoke up behind her. Hilda turned around to see Gene, Mel and Suzuka. The serious expression on Suzuka's face silently warned of dire consequences if she sensed Hilda wasn't forthcoming with any answers. 

"Somebody I was supposed to meet on Blue Heaven when I showed up with you three." she pointed to Gene and Melfina. "The thing is, I can't even remember *if* I met him there, let alone remember why." 

"Does this individual have anything to do with that key-card?" 

"I'm not sure...." Hilda began to say. 

"Well, what can you tell us about the key-card?" Gene asked impatiently. 

Hilda smiled. "There's no edited version, but it's something I can remember pretty well." 

Taking a hint, the others sat down. 

"A few months before I'd even heard of Melfina or the XGP, Horus and I got into a dogfight with some vessels from the Ban Guild. One of the vessels they abandoned had some goodies on board, so I helped myself to that." 

"What kind of goodies?" Gene asked. 

"Cash, jewelry, dragonite.....but there was something a little unusual that caught my attention, too." Hilda continued. "It was a platinum rod with dragonite chips on the top and intricate carvings of what looked like tigers all over it....." 

Aisha's ears enthusiastically twitched and she sat bolt-upright on the sofa. "The Scepter of Orubuu-Ria?!" she yelled out before wincing a little and clutching her side. 

Hilda nodded. "I figured it was valuable and held onto it, but I wasn't sure what to do with it for awhile until I was approached by somebody from out of the blue who expressed an interest. They claimed to represent Ewan Craven." 

"That name sounds familiar...." Jim started to say as he looked up from the computer. 

"Some of the grappler weapons on the Outlaw Star were made by his company. I think I heard Fred mention his name a few times, too. Something about price-gouging and making his life miserable- at least until he married Reiko. That was just a drop in the bucket in comparison." Gene paused and looked at Suzuka "He wasn't the one who....?" 

"The person who hired me to kill Fred had since gone bankrupt." she said somewhat defensively. "I know about the reputation of Craven Industries to understand that particular company is financially sound enough to successfully pursue other ventures like ship-building, steel-making and construction." 

"What about the Scepter!?" Aisha impatiently asked. 

"It turns out that Mr. Craven is a rather enthusiastic collector of interstellar relics and wanted to add the Scepter to his collection...." Hilda said. 

"Nnggyaa?! You gave the single most important artifact in the history of the Ctarl Ctarl Empire to a TERRAN?!" the Ctarl Ctarl angrily snapped, forgetting about her injured ribs for the time-being. 

"I didn't exactly *give* it to him. He got the scepter from me in exchange for adding some new weapons onto Horus. Craven was quite proud of his collection, too. He showed me some relics from Corbono, the Silgry homeworld, the Tenpa empire and even Old Earth- all of it was stolen, looted or had to have come from the black market. It was how the pirates paid for their weapons. The common thread was that every artifact was a prized possession of the most powerful and influential dynastic rulers on each homeworld." Hilda didn't know this for a fact, it was mostly an educated guess based on some information she was able to dredge up from the net. Aisha quietly nodded, confirming that statement was at least true of the Scepter. According to lore, the scepter in question belonged to Emperor Ria-Ria, under whose reign the Empire entered an unparalleled era of prosperity. As for the Scepter itself, legend had it that a shaman of the Imperial court gave the Emperor a platinum scepter with incredibly detailed and accurate carvings of his numerous descendants several decades before they were even born. That was many generations ago, but the legend was something every Ctarl Ctarl schoolchild knew. 

"Sounds like a sweet deal, but I'm guessing he wasn't 100% satisfied if you think he's the one after you." Jim said. 

"Actually, I was the unsatisfied party. It was around that time I had heard that the Kei Pirates and Space forces were close to perfecting the XGP. I realized that the weapons Craven outfitted my ship with were all laser guided and could easily be countered with Tao spells. They were worthless if I was going up against the Kei Pirates. I tried re-negotiating my deal with Craven, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it." 

"So what did you do?" Gene asked. Melfina had emerged from the kitchen with a tray full of coffee and tea. Hilda helped herself to a cup of Java. 

"I stole his precious collection- every last trinket...." 

"Including the Scepter?" Aisha asked. 

"You'd think somebody like that would take great pains to secure such items." Suzuka mused. 

Hilda nodded. "Hindsight is 20-20. The best he could do was hide it in plain sight. He kept the bulk of his collection in his office building, and it was protected with some pretty basic alarms and encryption. It wasn't like he could go to the authorities afterwards, since his collection was made up of stolen artefacts. Then I went to one of his business rivals and had them tear out the weapons he'd installed while I made sure the collection was somewhere safe and sound." 

"Like....?" Jim asked. 

"A safety-deposit box here on Heiphong." Hilda said. 

"So this missing collection has been under this guy's nose all along?" Gene asked. 

"Mmm-hmm. The only thing is that the key I took out for it was a bearer's key. Craven's people knew most of my aliases, and it was the only way I could arrange for a deposit box without being asked for a name." 

"And that's what you had to get from that old satellite?" Jim asked. 

"Right." 

"What's a bearer's key?" Aisha asked, a little bewildered. 

"Whoever presents the key to the bank where the box is kept is entitled to the box's contents." Jim explained to her. "Very popular with black marketeers..." 

"But why didn't you simply ask us to help you?" Melfina asked the Outlaw. 

"I thought about it, but you had such a hard time believing who I am. And I didn't stay alive this long by asking for things politely, Melfina." Hilda pointed out. "I couldn't chance being told 'no', otherwise I'd be all out of options." 

"So if Craven hopes to start interstellar trade with other species, then the last thing he would want is word to get around that he was in possession of priceless artefacts that were stolen from his would-be trading partners." the demure assassin observed as she sipped some green tea. "Do you think he secured the services of that Ctarl Ctarl to silence you or to get you to disclose the whereabouts of his collection?" 

"For now, I think I'm worth more alive than dead" Hilda said, remembering what Takana told her in the alley. "Guess I should savor it while it lasts."   
  


** 

**Searing pain. She could feel nothing else as she opened her eyes and tried to figure out here she was. A single blue flame flickered from the lantern across the room as the wind howled outside. The Ctarl Ctarl girl lying on a flimsy cot could make out the outline of a figure watching over her. It was her poppa. An adolescent Takana realized she was alone in the cabin with her father. 

"Poppa? Wh-what happened?" she asked meekly as she tried to get out of her bed. Before her right leg even touched the ground, white hot pain shot through her body. It seemed to be everywhere within her. Takana Jaci-Jaci could only cry out in agony as her father rushed to her side. The large Ctarl Ctarl man caught her before she could collapse to the floor. 

"Be still, Taki." her father said reassuringly as he gently helped her back onto the cot. "You've hurt yourself. You were late with our supplies, so I followed the path towards the village." 

The young Ctarl Ctarl looked at her father with wide, expectant eyes. He continued: "I found you down an embankment. You must've slipped and fallen." 

Tears were starting to form in Takana's eyes. She remembered everything now- she was carrying a weeks worth of nectar, well-water and ceremonial incense bartered with some of the village merchants in exchange for the meat from the prey that she and her father caught. The young Ctarl Ctarl had been up and down the long mountain path leading to the village so many times before, but today she was daydreaming about one of the older boys she had seen in the village square that day, certain that she was being admired from a distance. The next thing she knew, she stumbled off of a narrow portion of the path along one of the hills and then blackness. How? How could she be so careless? 

"What is it Taki?" her father asked upon seeing the girl's tears. 

Her tears were borne from much more than embarrassment. She knew how hard both her father and herself had worked to catch enough prey to bring into the village market. "...the supplies?" she reluctantly asked, already sure of the answer. 

"The containers for both the nectar and water shattered." he said calmly. "I couldn't find the incense." 

"Oh, poppa...." the young girl said as she hung her head in shame. Tears were now streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry" she said in all sincerity. 

"Listen to me, Taki." the man said as he placed a finger under her chin and firmly but gently lifted it up. "All of those things can be replaced. You and you alone are what's most important to me, and you cannot be replaced." he kissed the girl's forehead. 

Takana could not believe it. She had just destroyed the fruits of several weeks worth of labor and burdened her only living relative by injuring herself. Instead of raising his voice or striking her, as she thought he was more than entitled to do, the man sitting on the edge of the cot told her that all of those things she destroyed were worthless if he didn't have a daughter to share them with. So many emotions overwhelmed her and she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around her father. However, as she reached out, white-hot pain came flooding back into her body as she clutched her side and cried out. 

"What is it?" Aryo Jaci-Jaci asked his daughter. 

"It's nothing...." she said quite unconvincingly as the pain shot through her ribs. Something must have been fractured, and her right ankle wasn't in much better shape. 

The elder Ctarl-Ctarl smiled warmly. "The boys from the village aren't here, so there's no need for you to impress them." 

"Daddy!" she blushed, momentarily forgetting about her battered body. 

"Where does it hurt?" he asked her. 

"My head, my ankle, my ribs, my arm...." she said. 

The jovial expression on her father's face suddenly changed to a very stern and serious one. Takana sensed this. "What is it....?" she asked softly. 

"I knew that nothing was broken, but I didn't think it would be this bad. I'm going to give you something...." he said as he reached into a pouch along is belt. "You're a little young for it, but it's the only medicine I can give you right now." 

Before the girl could even protest, her father's left hand firmly held onto her jaw while the other hand pulled a pinch of what looked like dried grass from the pouch and placed it inside her mouth. Takana was almost immediately revolted by the bitter tasting pinch of iaru root, but her father's firm grip on her jaw prevented her from spitting it out. 

"Keep it under your tongue..." he instructed her. 

She did so and found that the root had an almost minty aftertaste to it. As she noticed this, her body was racked by a series of small, involuntary convulsions. For a moment, she feared that this would aggravate her injuries, but the pain was now leaving her body. This was followed by a warm, numb tingling sensation in her extremities. 

"Taki....." the man said as he still held onto her jaw. His voice sounded slower and distorted to the girl. "It's very important you understand that this is to be used as medicine, NOT for recreation." 

"Yes daddy..." the girl said absently as the warm sensations continued to overcome her. This was to be her first hit of her beloved root, and it was love at first high...** 

The fluttering of wings roused Takana from her sleep and brought her back to her present reality. She opened her eyes and was blinded by the early morning sun. As she squinted her eyes, she could make out some pigeons cooing and pacing on the ledge above her. The tracker-killer held her forearm in front of her face, shielding her eyes as she took in her surroundings. Her sides ached as she inhaled- for a moment she thought it was from falling down the embankment near the cabin on her homeworld. Takana's heart sank as she realized she was on a strange and alien world in the Terran sector called Heiphong and that her father could not help her this time. Her father, her work and the root were the only things in life that Takana Jaci-Jaci could take comfort in. Without one, she had now fully devoted herself to the remaining two, but it seemed that each time she closed her eyes, Takana's mind would inevitably wander back to the better days of her youth and time spent with her father. She did this because it was the only time she felt that she was unconditionally loved. 

Without even looking, she reached onto the ledge above her, grabbed one of the cooing pigeons and swiftly decapitated it with her thumb and forefinger. The other birds immediately took flight after witnessing what happened to the one Takana grabbed. Breakfast was now ready for the tracker-killer and she was more than anxious to resume the hunt. 

** 

"What were you able to come up with Jim?" Hilda asked as she descended the staircase that morning. Takana wasn't the only one who had an anxious, fitful night of sleep. The outlaw saw that the boy genius was up early and busily tapping away at the computer. Aisha was still asleep on the sofa, curled up and snoring lightly. Hilda was quite happy to see that the night had apparently passed without another visit from the psychotic cat-girl. 

"I found only one ship registered under the name Bela Akula right here on Heiphong, but.." 

"But what? She queried the boy. 

"It's been in dry-dock for the past year or so..." 

"Really?" 

"I can't find a name to go with it, but it looks like it was put in hoc in exchange for some property here on Heiphong." Jim informed her. Despite all the changes that had taken place during her absent, it was apparent that Jim was still very much the brains of the outfit. "Good work. Do you have a name or address?" 

"Right now, all I can tell you is that it's commercial and not residential. Give me a few minutes and I'll have something." 

Aisha suddenly sat up on the sofa, stretched her arms in the air let out and a hearty yawn. She groggily eyed Hilda and then Jim. 

"Morning Jim..." she said wearily to the boy genius. She looked back at Hilda as the bio-android emerged from the hallway and walked up behind the two-eyed outlaw. 

"Anybody care for breakfast?" Melfina asked as she headed down the stairs. 

Aisha nodded vigorously as Melfina made her way into the kitchen. Suzuka was now up as well. 

"Got it! The signatory is an S. Sandoval and it's a resturant called the Wandering Star on the other side of Heiphong City." Jim said to Hilda triumphantly. 

The female outlaw furrowed a brow at this. "Appreciate the offer, Mel." She said to the bio-android as she slipped into her jacket "But it looks like I'll have to take a rain check." 

"How can you be certain this isn't some sort of trap?" the assassin asked Hilda. 

That thought gave Hilda pause. She turned to Jim. 

"Jim, how long did it take for you to find out about the on the Bela Akula and Wandering Star? This information wasn't conveniently dropped into your lap, was it?" 

"It wasn't much more difficult to track than most run-of-the-mill transactions. I can't smell anything wrong from this end." he said. 

That made up Hilda's mind for her. "Can you get me a printout with the address?" she asked Jim. 

The boy obliged. 

"You're not thinking of going by yourself after what happened yesterday?" Suzuka asked Hilda. 

A small grin was on the corner of Hilda's mouth. "Didn't know you cared so much. You're welcome to come with me if you'd like." 

"This is a resturant you're going to?" Aisha asked suddenly. 

Jim nodded. 

"Then I'm going, too!" the cat-girl declared as she licked her chops. 

"If you're taking the Ehefrau, then I'm driving." Jim insisted. 

Melfina looked bewildered as the others were getting ready to take their leave. She had already kettle boiling for Suzuka and her green tea. 

"Mel? Think you and Gene will be OK by yourselves for awhile?" Hilda asked the bio-android. 

She nodded absently. "How long do you think you'll be gone?" 

"That depends on what Mr. Sandoval tells us." Hilda said. 

** 

Hilda, Suzuka, Aisha and Jim made their way to the address Jim was able to get from the net directory. Along the way, the Outlaw, assassin and Ctarl Ctarl officer casually checked the reflection of the shop windows and scanned rooftops to ensure that they weren't being followed. 

Inside the diner was a cook and two rather attractive waitresses- one a tall, light-haired Ctarl Ctarl and the other a petite redheaded Terran. The fact that there were no customers wasn't neccecarily a commentary on the food, but simply another reminder of the boom-bust economic cycles planets like Heiphong went through. Those who could afford to eat out in the bust part of the cycle were usually content to spend their money in a far more upscale venue. The Wandering Star almost like the classic greasy spoon diners of Old Earth. 

"Jim; stay behind me. I'm going in through the front- you two come in through the back." Hilda said to the assassin and ex Ctarl Ctarl ambassador. 

"Sounds like you have a somewhat less than rosy past with this individual." Suzuka said. 

"At this point, I have no idea." Hilda shook her head "But I'll err on the side of caution". She waited for a moment as the assassin and Ctarl Ctarl made their way into the alley adjacent to the Wandering Star. Then she rather unceremoniously burst into the front of the resturant, Jim reluctantly following a few paces behind her.   
  


** 

Running a resturant turned out to be a bit more tedious than Sergei Sandoval had expected. He knew that long hours would be involved, but the most unappealing aspect was bookkeeping. Not only was it was an incredible bore, but it was now showing him how much money he was losing. The cook/owner looked up as he heard the front door crash open, thinking for a moment that it could be a customer. 

The woman looked familiar to him somehow. Almost immediately, he recognized her. 

"Hilda?" Sandoval asked. However, he turned pale as a sheet as he got a closer look at her. The cook quickly retreated into the kitchen, not saying a word. Hilda- with two eyes. That could only mean one thing. He was ready to bolt out of the back door but found a Ctarl Ctarl in an officer's uniform and kimono-clad woman blocking the exit. Something told him that they were with Hilda and the boy. He backed away from them, realizing he was now cornered. The kitchen door slammed open and Hilda stormed angrily through, followed closely Gwen and Palu on her heels 

"What's going on?" Palu asked more than a little bewildered. 

"HEY! You just can't come in here and-" Gwen started to say. She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Hilda pulling back the slide on her pistol and walking up to Sandoval. Gwen was about to run up front and call the cops when she felt something press into her throat. She gingerly turned her head to see Suzuka holding the bokken up to her neck. Palu could only watch events unfold in disbelief. 

"We are not here to harm anybody, we are only interested in some information your employer may have." Suzuka quietly said to the waitresses. Almost immediately, Hilda made her a liar as she grabbed Sandoval's hair and held the gun to his temple while bringing his face an inch or so away from the burning grill. 

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU TELL ME EVERYTHING!" She yelled. 

"Let me go Hilda! OW! Christ! Let me go and I'll tell you everything...." Sandoval pleaded. 

"No!" Palu yelled out as she took two steps forward. Suzuka pressed the bokken slightly harder into Gwen's neck, making sure that Palu saw that. The Ctarl Ctarl waitress stopped in her tracks. 

"Why did you try and run......?" she seethed. The gun was still against his temple, but she relaxed her grip on Sandoval's hair. 

"I said I'll tell you everything, Hilda....but you're not going to like it." he warned. Understandably, the further his face got from the grill, the calmer he became. 

** 

After a running head start, Takana jumped onto the roof of the Starwind and Hawking building. She cautiously sniffed the air and scanned the rooftop for any alarms or booby-traps. Sensing nothing out of the ordinary, she stealthily made her way to the hole in the roof that Suzuka had made earlier. Her ears twitched as they picked up a faint murmuring below and she could make out a conversation from inside. There was no fresh scent from Hilda, the assassin or the platinum-haired Ctarl Ctarl. Takana could only assume that they had taken their leave. However, the two remaining occupants of the building were talking about Hilda and somebody else. This was followed by momentary silence. As Takana crept closer to the edge of the hole in the roof, a small chunk of plaster came loose and fell from the ceiling, landing in front of what looked like a pink soda can of the coffee table. Only the small can seemed to turn around and look up at her. 

**. 

"Do you really think that man they're looking for will know why Hilda is still alive?" Melfina asked Gene as she turned on one of the stove's burners. 

"I don't know, Mel. If he does, he may be the only one." Gene said. On one hand, he was a little disappointed that he didn't come along with the others. On the other hand, this was the first time since Hilda had returned that he and Mel had some time alone. He smiled as he slid his arms around Melfina's waist from behind and pulled her close. **Hilda or Jim will have to tell me all about it later** he said as he gently began kissing Melfina's neck **......much much MUCH later. God, she's so beautiful....** 

He had done this often enough to know that Mel would virtually melt in his arms, at least one of her hands gently guiding his head and Mel tilting her own head to one side so that there would be more neck for Gene to move his lips over. For both of them, it was familiar, but never tedious. 

However, Mel simply stiffened and her hands remained at her side. Gene had made his way to her shoulder by the time he sensed something was amiss. 

"What's wrong?" the Outlaw asked. 

"Gene....I...." she paused. This was something she wanted to tell him since before Hilda re-appeared, the Ctarl Ctarl bounty huntress appeared on their doorstep or even the Space-Race. But she was so uncertain about how Gene would react to what she had to say. Joy? Disappointment? Indifference? She loved him, but was also a little intimidated by him at the same time. As she drew a breath and steeled herself for Gene's reaction to what she had to say. Gillium suddenly spoke up from the next room. 

"WARNING! INTRUDER ON PREMISES! WARNING! INTRUDER-" 

There was the sound of metal on metal, then Gillium fell silent. 

**   
  


"You dumb son of bitch- you mortgaged your ship for this dump?" Hilda asked the proprietor. 

"I put a lot of effort into this "dump", as you call it." Sandoval said a little defensively as he brought out platefuls of food for him, his staff and his unexpected guests. All of it looked pretty basic, but still appetizing "besides, they haven't foreclosed on the ship yet." 

"What the hell have you been up to since I saw you last?" she asked him. 

"Well, there's this......" he outstretched his palm to indicate the diner "and I'm now a married man." 

"You're joking....who's the victim?" Hilda asked. 

Almost as if to answer Hilda's question, the Ctarl Ctarl waitress, Palu, let out a surprised little yelp as Sandoval none-too-gently pinched her backside. "I found a woman who truly appreciates my culinary talents." he chuckled. "Of course, I could serve her a plateful of enriched uranium and she'd ask for seconds." 

Palu furrowed her brow at her husband as he continued to address Hilda. 

"I'm not quite sure how to put this delicately, Hilda, but you're not really Hilda." Sandoval wasn't exactly looking forward to breaking the news to her, but her calling his pride and joy a dump made it a little bit easier for him. "More like a construct built using Hilda's genetic material and given most of her memories. A purpose-made clone, if you will." 

"What?" Hilda asked. Sandoval realized the jam he was in when he first saw Hilda show up. In an attempt to play peacemaker, he had cooked everybody a big lunch. That way, if Hilda was displeased enough with the answers to her questions to kill him, he'd at least have a decent last meal. The only problem was that he also had to provide food for his potential executioners. 

"Don't kill the messenger!" Sandoval said. "Your body was cloned from a DNA sample of Hilda's. Sometime last year, we met at Blue Heaven and you paid me to courier the sample to a scientist. This was meant to confuse the pirates and buy some time once that new ship was secured. At least that's what you told me." 

Instead of killing him outright, a wry grin came across the Outlaw's face. 

"DNA sample? You mean, like, bodily fluids?" she coyly asked him. 

Sandoval smiled and shook his head. "That's what I liked about you- your mind never strayed too far from the gutter. Actually, it was a lock of hair." He pointed at his scalp to avoid the follow-up question that Hilda- real or clone- would've inevitably asked. 

At first, Hilda seemed to take the news in stride, but it was clear with each passing moment that it took the wind out of her sails. "So why is it I can remember outfitting Horus, taking Melfina from the pirates and hiding out on Sentinel, but not.....?" 

"Package deal- Hilda's DNA comes with her memories, too. I think the instructions also included some sort of cerebral implant or filter that would block out any knowledge about the cloning process. You have Hilda's memories, but I imagine you wouldn't remember anything from after cutting off the lock of hair. This really isn't my field of expertise, though." 

"What about these?" Hilda asked, tapping her supposedly prosthetic arm and no-longer-missing eye. 

"By-product of the cloning process, I imagine. Frankly, it's the only way I could tell you apart from the original." Sandoval said. 

"That would make sense. If a woman lost her leg in an accident and then becomes pregnant, it doesn't neccecarily mean that the baby will have one leg." Jim pointed out. 

"What a smart kid!" Palu affectionately gushed before helping herself to another fork full of mutton. She had never seen a child- Ctarl Ctarl or Terran- discussing genetic theory with people twice his age. As for Jim, this was the first time he had seen any sort of union between a human and a Ctarl Ctarl. He was starting to blush and stammer, thinking about the bouncy and energetic platinum-haired cat-girl sitting next to him when he felt a familiar had tousle his hair. The look on Aisha's face told the Ctarl Ctarl waitress that she was preaching to the choir. 

"That's our Jim." Aisha beamed proudly. 

"So who did the procedure?" Hilda asked her host. 

"Some old scientist on Alpine-23- you recommended him. He charged me a pretty penny, too." 

"And where is he now?" 

"Dead." Sandoval informed her. Hilda looked at him suspiciously. "Hey- He was old. I'm surprised he didn't keel over when I was there. People can still die natural deaths these days, you know?" 

** 

The Outlaw looked at Melfina. "Go..." he almost implored her. "It's not gonna be safe here". 

Gene rounded the corner in time to see Takana drop down from the large hole in the ceiling and begin to pull a knife from the pink Gillium-can, which was impaled and pinned to the table by a blade stronger than most Terran alloys. As the tracker-killer saw Gene, she reached around her waist to unfasten the metallic bolo. 

All Gene had on him was his pistol. Understandably, he had his doubts about the pistol's effectiveness against a Ctarl Ctarl. The Caster, grenades and light-shield were kept on the other side of the offices, meaning that he'd have to go through the intruder to get to them. Gene raised the pistol but all he was able to line up in his sights was a black-brown streak. He squeezed off two shots, which missed the Ctarl Ctarl and buried themselves into the wall. Takana feinted left before dodging to her right- Gene pulled the trigger three more times, missing again. She had danced this dance so many times before and almost always came out on top. 

There was a dry clicking as Gene continued to pull the trigger of the empty gun. With incredible speed, Takana raced forward and ripped the pistol out of Gene's hand while still keeping his hand in a tight grip. 

"Captain Gene Starwind, I presume." she grinned. "Is that the best you can do?" the intruder asked. She was close enough for the Outlaw to catch the almost minty scent of her breath as she spoke. The tracker killer was pondering wether she should simply break his arm or tear open his jugular. Just as she reached the conclusion that she had absolutely no reason to keep him alive, the Outlaw roughly slammed his forehead into the tracker killer's face. It wasn't nearly a hard enough blow to knock Takana out, but it was enough for her to loosen her grip on the Outlaw's hand. That was all Gene needed. 

Takana recovered quickly and had unfastened the bolo, only now she was a little too close to release it effectively. Instead, she held onto the center ring and began swinging each of the weighted ends like a mace. Gene ducked out of the way as one of the weights came crashing down into the coffee table in front of him, reducing it to expensive kindling. Gene picked up a small folding chair and pitched it at the intruder, who simply knocked it down with the bolo. The outlaw picked up another chair and feigned throwing it at her, but kept it between him and Takana. **This one is going to be difficult as well** Takana thought as she ducked and slipped her remaining bracelet off. Almost like a butterfly knife, she flicked a small lever and flipped the bracelet-knife open. Even though the blade was relatively short, she kept it coated with something very special. 

"I'm just getting started...." Gene bluffed as he cautiously backed towards the chest that held the Caster, light shield and grenades. The toy on the floor in front of him was worthless. He knew it and chances were that Takana knew it as well. But if she thought he had something else up his sleeve, that might buy him some time to get to his heavy artillery. 

** 

Hilda was becoming more and more detached to the conversation that was centering around her. In the back of her mind, she could hear that Jim was explaining to Sandoval how the original Hilda had died at Farfallas and their current predicament with Craven and the Ctarl Ctarl bounty huntress he hired. If what Sandoval said was true, that meant she was younger than Melfina. She was a clone? Or was it a purpose-built construct? Did Craven know? Would it matter if he knew? 

"In theory, those baubles you took off of Craven could be worth a fortune." Sandoval said as he suddenly turned to Hilda. "The flip side of that is they could also be worth some heavy-duty prison time or even a death sentence if you're caught with those by the wrong people. They're only worth money as long as you have a buyer lined up, and from what I understand, it's a buyer's market." 

Hilda, or the Hilda-construct, was still lost in thought. It was all still sinking in for her. 

"Hilda?" Sandoval asked solemnly. "I'm sorry Hilda, but that's the truth. That's what you said you wanted from me...." 

"So I'm not really Hilda, just a carbon copy" she looked at Sandoval and then turned to Jim. "She died at Farfallas after all, but I've inherited all of her problems". The boy genius looked back up at her with his blue eyes, not quite able to suspend disbelief. **Problems I turned around and dropped into your lap Gene, Jim.....** 

"Jim...." Gillium's voice spoke up quietly over the radio. 

"What is it Gil?" he asked. 

"My sensors detected an intruder on the roof of the offices building before suddenly going offline a moment ago." the computer said, referring to the pink can that Takana skewered with her blade. Jim was being contacted directly by the ship's computer. 

"What is it Jim?" the assassin asked the boy, noticing the expression on his face change. 

"It's Gene and Mel- I think they're in trouble...." he said. 

** 

It was the moment she waited for. Gene popped up from behind the desk like a jack-in-the-box, Caster aloft and looking straight ahead. However, the tracker-killer was a split-second faster and was to his right. He didn't see Takana right away, only movement in the right corner of his eye. Almost as if it were moving on it's own volition, a knife whistled through the air and struck Gene in the side, partway between his chest and right armpit. The blade wasn't very long, yet it hurt like hell. The outlaw dropped his gun as he tried pulling the knife from his side. As he did this, Takana leapt over the sofa and knocked Gene to the ground with one swift kick to the ribs. Gene was on his back but facing sideways when he saw the intruder kick the Caster well out of his reach. Almost right away, he noticed that he couldn't move his right arm. 

"How are you feeling now, Captain Gene?" Takana asked. 

Gene got a good look at the intruder. Although Takana's beauty didn't entirely escape his attention, the thing Gene noticed most about her was the malice in her voice. It left him with the impression that not only would she kill him, but she was going to enjoy every second of doing so. Almost as if to confirm this, Takana spoke again. 

"Look at that..." she scolded "You got my good knife dirty". The knife was still in his side, and Takana's left foot was now firmly on top of the hilt, driving the blade in a little further. Then she began rotating her foot, aggravating the wound even more. Gene could only clench his teeth in agony as he writhed in a slowly spreading crimson pool. 

He was nearly oblivious to Takana reaching down and finally pulling the knife out from his side. A thought entered his mind which eased the pain somewhat. The longer Takana remained here and tormented him, the more time Melfina would have to get away from her. He looked up at the Ctarl Ctarl while she was licking his blood off of her fingers as though it was barbecue sauce. He slowly managed to pull himself far enough along so that his back was leaning up against the wall. 

"Not bad, but I've had better..." she commented. 

"Does this mean.....I don't......get....the blue ribbon?" he struggled to say through the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. 

The tracker-killer looked bewildered at his comment. Was he mocking her? Or perhaps trying to avoid answering any questions she was sure to ask about Hilda? She looked thoughtfully down at him. He was stalling, that much was clear. It may not have anything to do with Hilda, but Captain Gene was trying to buy time for some reason- she could almost smell it. 

That's when her ears twitched. They picked up a slight noise from the kitchen, but Takana picked up a scent that she thought at first was residual- It wasn't. It was deceptively fresh. Somebody else was with them. It wasn't Hilda, but somebody very afraid. The tracker-killer knew this for a fact because fear was her favorite scent. 

.She knelt down next to Gene and leaned in close. He was eye to eye with the cat-girl. 

"You may not have noticed this by now, but you can't move at all, can you?" 

There was nothing but stony silence from the Outlaw. Gene realized that she was right, he noticed it first with his right arm, but now that she had mentioned it he realized he was unable to move his other arms and legs. At first, he was afraid that Takana's knife may have severed a tendon or nerve, but now he realized it had spread to his other limbs. Her pouting lips were now next to Gene's right ear. 

"Tell me. Who else is here with us?" she whispered softly in his ear. 

"Nobody." 

"So it's just you and me then?" she quietly, almost flirtatiously asked. 

Gene nodded. 

"Is that a fact?" the tracker-killer paused. "Scream for me, Captain Gene." 

She very suddenly and violently raked her talons over Gene's fresh wound. Just as Gene felt that the pain from the gash in his side was starting to leave, it suddenly came back tenfold. Against his will, he found himself honoring Takana's request. 

"NO! GENE!!!!" the bio-android yelled, running from the kitchen. Melfina was reluctant to leave, wanting to see how Gene would fare against this intruder. Now that things had taken a turn for the worse she couldn't bring herself to leave Gene at the mercy of the sadistic cat-girl. With her as the only weapon she had at her disposal, a kettle of boiling water that was supposed to be Suzuka's tea 

A look of despair came across Gene's face. She was supposed to flee while she had the chance. Why didn't she listen? 

"Mel! Get out-" Gene started to warn her. His warning was cut short by a vicious kick to the face from Takana. Without any further hesitation, the bounty huntress approached the bio-android. 

Melfina held her ground with the kettle of water. As Takana came closer, Mel threw the kettle's contents onto the Ctarl Ctarl. The bounty-huntress stopped dead in her tracks and looked over herself, a quizzical look on her face, but not a hint of pain. This was not the desired reaction Melfina had in mind. She remembered too late that bullets and blades could barely harm Aisha, so it was a stretch to think that boiling water would stop another Ctarl Ctarl dead in her tracks. Takana wiped some of the piping hot water away from her face and glared at the bio-android. Mel started to back away, but Takana roughly grabbed Mel's hair by the scalp and slammed the back of her head into the wall behind her. Mel tried in vain to pull away. 

"What sort of value do you think Hilda places on your life?" she hissed at the bio-android. 

"I.....I......don't know." Mel stammered. 

"We're going to find out very shortly." Takana was going to ask her where Hilda went, but chances were that Hilda didn't go very far. For a moment, Takana was worried that her quarry might be leaving the planet. Takana began sniffing Melfina- her fear was like a sweet perfume so pure and undiluted, unlike all of her other prey. Each breath was a feast for her senses. She was too scared to lie to Takana and the tracker-killer knew this. But Takana sensed something else coming from the bio-android, something rather curious. It was almost like another person, only it was coming from within. Not quite a vibration, not quite a sound. After concentrating for a moment, she could hear Mel breathing and.....something else. It dawned on her what it was. She could hear a faint second heartbeat. 

"You are.....with child?" Takana suddenly asked Mel. 

Mel collapsed into tears as the bounty huntress relaxed her grip on her hair. She nodded absently and buried her face into her hands as she sank to the floor in despair and helpless rage. Melfina was a few weeks pregnant with Gene's baby. She had gone to a doctor a few days prior to Hilda's re-appearance to confirm this. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and she was bracing herself to tell Gene the news, trying to find the right occasion. But now the first one to find out was this intruder, who undoubtedly wanted to kill the father of her child as well as Hilda. She looked up into Takana's flickering emerald eyes as the beast-girl wiped the blade of her knife clean and started sprinkling an off-white powder on the blade. Now Mel was certain Gene wouldn't live to hear the good news, let alone see the birth of her first child. 

Takana's ears twitched. On the other side of the steel door, somebody was approaching. It had to be Hilda and the others. The gentle bio-android gasped slightly as Takana sliced her palm almost delicately with the knife. The wound was no bigger than a paper-cut, but that was all the tracker-killer needed since the blade was once again coated with the same semi-toxic spore that induced paralysis on Gene. Mel clutched at her wound and could almost immediately feel it taking effect. In less than thirty seconds, she could feel both arms going limp. The bio-android couldn't do or say anything to resist as the intruder scooped her up and carried her away like a sleeping child. She had what she came for. Takana Jaci-Jaci was now in possession of two very precious bargaining chips. 


	7. Requeim For a Broken Wing

_Prerequisite Author's note & disclaimer: Chapter 8 is up and running, while Chapter 9 is coming along rather nicely (I'll be nice & non-comittal, tho'). I also thought I'd do a little tweaking and fix some errors. Also, I don't own Outlaw Star._

  


_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~_

_ Thy hands have framed me and fashioned me Together round about; yet thou dost destroy me._ (_Job 10:8) _

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gene Starwind's eyes fluttered open as he became aware of a sharp, strong odor. As his vision came into focus, he saw Suzuka, Hilda, Aisha and Jim kneeling over him. He realized that he was still in the offices and the slender assassin was able to revive him with some smelling salts she had on her person. 

"Aniki? What happened?" Jim asked Gene. 

Aisha was sniffing the air and looking at the hole in the roof. "That arrogant bitch! She was here again, wasn't she?" the Ctarl Ctarl angrily asked nobody in particular. 

Gene winced a little as he struggled to get up. A searing pain flashed across the right side of his torso. Ironically, the toxin that Takana had coated her blade with actually saved Gene's life since it slowed down all bodily functions- including blood flow. This actually served to minimalize his blood loss and prevented him from bleeding to death on the floor. He was also fortunate enough to have regained consciousness in the company of no less than three individuals who had some firsthand experience with combat medicine. 

"Welcome back- though you'd left us for a moment." Hilda said. 

His eyes widened. "Melfina? Where's Melfina?" he asked, doing his best to ignore the pain. 

"Easy, Gene. You must take care not to over-exert yourself with these wounds." Suzuka cautioned. 

"Where is she!?" the Outlaw frantically asked. 

Jim solemnly shook his head. "We can't find her anywhere, Aniki. We were hoping you'd know." 

"It wasn't safe....I told her to leave, but...." 

"But what?" Hilda asked. 

"She saw Melfina......that Ctarl Ctarl must have her." 

Hilda's heart sank at the mention of 'Ctarl'. "Shit! I didn't think she'd come back here so soon and come after Mel." she said. Since arriving at Heiphong, the bounty huntress had surfaced twice and made an unsuccessful attempt to grab Hilda each time. The dark-haired Outlaw couldn't have foreseen this change of strategy from her pursuer. However, hiding out this close to Craven's headquarters was almost inviting this sort of thing to happen. 

"Gillium?" Jim asked as he looked at the ruined pink can atop of the table. Takana's blade had cleanly cone through him, but the real damage to Gillium was done when she pulled the knife out. "What did they do to you?" 

"I am fine." the ship's computer said, speaking to the boy over a communicator in his ear. "I suppose I should consider myself fortunate that I'm not capable of feeling physical pain." 

"No foolin'" Gene said as Suzuka and Hilda tried gently lifting him upright without aggravating his wounds. "You got off easy, Gil." 

  
  


** 

  
  


Another workday had passed and the majority of his wage-slaves had scampered back to their modest homes and meaningless existences. Craven sat by himself in his spacious office- the lights were dimmed. He had decided to finish up his business with the Silgry delegation as soon as possible, since Takana's confirmation that Hilda was indeed alive had moved up his timetable. Yet some members of the delegation seemed reluctant to close the deal. If word got out what Hilda was in possession of, his fortune and industrial empire would be in ruins. 

He buzzed his assistant through the intercom. 

"Be sure to tell the Silgrys that the lunch-meeting for tomorrow has been moved ahead to eleven o'clock." he said. 

"Yes, Mr. Craven." 

There was a noise- not so much a noise, but a presence that Craven suddenly felt in the office with him. In the shadows, two wicked jade-green eyes slashed through the darkness and were peering at him. The CEO was startled for a moment, until he saw that it was Takana Jaci-Jaci. 

"How long have you been there?" he asked the tracker killer. 

"Long enough. I thought I would come by and update you of my progress in person." she said as she stepped out of the shadows. As she did so, Craven saw that there was something slung over her shoulder. It was Melfina. 

"That isn't Hilda." Craven said, clearly displeased as Takana slid the unconscious bio-android into one of the seats facing his desk. Melfina was out like a light, although she looked like she was having a bad dream. Craven reasoned that if the tracker-killer was here on Heiphong, then Hilda couldn't have been very far away, either. For a moment, he was afraid that Hilda had spent her entire time in hiding without even leaving the city of Heiphong. The CEO dismissed the thought when he remembered that her last communique was from half a solar system away. 

"I'm well aware of that. Hilda is now being protected by some outlaws and she's more difficult to get to now- *_especially_* if you still want her alive." there was a pause. "If you don't mind my asking, how exactly did she wrong you? Was she to be your mate? Did she leave you at the altar?" she pouted as she sat on top of Craven's desk. 

"It was a business transaction, as if it's any of your concern." Craven said impatiently. 

"Good, because I have one more fee for services rendered. Something you would be unable to consent to if you were attached to her at all, and it won't cost you a dime!" 

The Ctarl Ctarl was already pushing her luck, but Craven listened when she explained that it wouldn't cost him any additional money. 

"All I'm asking is that you leave Hilda for me once you get whatever it is that you need from her." Once again, the Ctarl Ctarl's fingers were unconsciously running over the missing portion of her ear. "I owe her..." She turned her attention back to Melfina. "However, this woman belongs to another outlaw. I'm sure he'll gladly hand Hilda over to you in exchange for her. I certainly wouldn't want to give her up..." Takana sighed wistfully "...she has such a unique and beautiful scent, especially when she's afraid." 

"What makes you so sure of that? And why the hell did you bring her here?". Craven sat down behind his desk and his finger was hoovering over the emergency-security page button underneath the desk. He was doing his best to curb his anger with this stupid, impudent beast. He wasn't interested in ransom, games or this girl Takana had brought in. He simply wanted results that he was willing to pay handsomely for and the Ctarl Ctarl was not providing any. 

She extended a slender leg. "You said you wanted Hilda alive, and that's exactly what you'll get in due time. My nightly regimen of sleeping in alleys or on rooftops and washing in fountains would present entirely too many opportunities for this one to slip away. But I discovered that this Terran is carrying another outlaw's litter. And this Outlaw who knows *exactly* where Hilda is." 

Litter? Craven looked confused for a moment. "You mean that this one's pregnant?" 

Takana nodded. 

"Humans don't give birth in litters....." Craven pointed out. He was uncomfortably aware that it sounded like he was referring to humans in third-person. 

"Is that a fact? Regardless- there is another heartbeat. It's faint, but I can hear it". Her knees were drawn together as she stretched her hands around them. Her cheek was resting against one knee as she looked at Craven. "Meaning that the father will have to choose between Hilda or this Terran carrying his unborn child. Of this I'm quite certain." 

Craven realized the beast-girl might be onto something. 

"Do they realize she's missing yet?" 

"I'm sure they do by now. All I need to do is contact them and make one very reasonable demand. Hilda in exchange for this Terran." She softly inhaled and paused for a moment, savoring what she was about to say next. After getting a chunk of her ear shot off by Hilda and tangling with the likes of Suzuka and Aisha, Takana was more than ready to collect her hard-earned wages. "You name the time and place and I'll name you my price." 

  
  


** 

  
  


"Try to hold still..." Twilight Suzuka said rather sternly to the Outlaw. With the needle in one hand and some thread in the other, she looked more like a seamstress than skilled swordswoman. Gene was lying on the sofa as she was trying as best she could to patch up the wound on his chest.

"Bottoms up, Aniki." the boy-genius said as he held the flask to Gene's lips. Almost reluctantly, Gene swallowed the remaining contents of his flask- some good ol' rotgut whiskey. It was the closest thing they had to anesthesia in the building. 

"I didn't know you were such a talented seamstress, Suzuka." the Outlaw said with a sideways grin. He was uncomfortably aware that it sounded like he was mocking the quiet assassin, but Gene seemed genuinely surprised. 

"On more than one occasion, I've had to perform similar work on myself." she said. 

"Looks like we're out of painkiller- I'll go see if I can find some more." Jim said. He held the flask aloft, peering up into it before turning back to Gene. "Relax, Aniki- I'm sure you're in good hands." the boy excused himself. 

"Maybe it's just the booze talking......" Gene said to the assassin. Suzuka paused. He sounded lucid enough, so she was pretty sure it _*wasn't*_ the booze talking. 

"Yes?" 

"But......" he sighed ".......I don't think I ever thanked you for saving Melfina back on Sentinel. I wasn't there to see for myself, so I had my doubts for while. She told me she was quite surprised to see you there..." 

"There's absolutely no need to thank me. If I remember correctly, I made an attempt on your life a few days prior to that, so it was only natural for you to be somewhat skeptical." Suzuka said, her attention mostly focused on closing the last few stitches. 

"I thought I was a goner awhile ago." Gene said "And when I was lying there, I realized that I took a lot of things for granted, including you. I think all of us have." The assassin furrowed her brow as she began closing up the last stitch. Maybe it _*was*_ the booze talking, after all. Suzuka couldn't help but wonder why he didn't mention this until now. 

"I mean, where would we be without you, y'know?" he continued. "Sometimes you put up with a lot of crap from all of us but you've never really asked for anything in return." 

The assassin didn't argue with Gene. Instead, she remembered the two of them sitting together next to the campfire at the Grave of the Dragon, with the Outlaw telling her about the promise he made to Melfina. It was a side of him she never expected to see, although there had been a few odd twists of fate ever since she set foot in Fred Luo's office. The more vulnerable Gene seemed, the more Suzuka...... 

A loud electronic chirping suddenly caught everybody's attention. Off in the distance, the phone was ringing. It was entirely too late for a customer to be calling, and those had been pretty scarce in the weeks leading up to the Space Race. Jim didn't see any reason for them to be calling now as he answered the phone. 

"Starwind and Hawking. Hello...?" he asked rather hesitantly. The screen flickered to life and he could make out the image of silhouetted Ctarl Ctarl, her face obscured by shadows with only the occasional emerald gleam from her eyes. His heart sank. His intuition told him right away that it was Melfina's captor, the elusive beast-girl sent to kill or capture Hilda. The boy was left with the feeling that he was looking at a soulless killing machine. 

"I'd like to speak to the man of the house....." Takana said curtly. ".....if he's still alive, that is." 

Hilda recognized the voice and stopped dead in her tracks, her face as pale as a sheet. The audio on the computer was so crisp that the Outlaw thought her pursuer was in the same room for a moment. She faltered for a moment and then recovered. "What do you want with him?" Hilda asked as she regained her composure. "You made it clear earlier that you were after me." 

The tracker killer chuckled lightly- it was a joyless sound. "That's true, but you've been very hard to get ahold of lately". There was a pause. "However, since I'm talking to you now, I'm curious if you place any value on the girl's life..." 

"How do I even know if Melfina is still alive?" 

"You have my word that she's unharmed....." Takana paused. Even through the monitor, Hilda and the others' skepticism was apparent. Takana continued. "A hunter has no reason to lie to it's prey. Meet me in three hours at the Heiphong Narrows Bridge. I'll have the girl with me. Once you show up, Hilda, the girl is free to leave." 

"But how do we know if....?" Jim started to ask. He was cut off by a glare from the Ctarl Ctarl that froze his blood, even from a distance. 

"This is an exceptionally generous offer considering the damage you've already done, Hilda." Takana was once again running her finger over the damaged portion of her ear. "It's not open for negotiation. I recommend you take full advantage of it while you have the chance." 

Before anybody could argue, stall for time or attempt a counter-offer, the screen went black. They had two hours and fifty-nine minutes to mull over the bounty huntress' proposal. 

"I don't trust her...." Aisha said. Stealth and deceit seemed to be this woman's stock in trade, which ran contrary to her own Imperial officer's training and her preference to tackling a problem head-on.. 

"Me neither, Aisha." Gene said as he struggled to sit up. "But we don't have much of a choice right now." 

"Even if she's true to her word, I can't say the same about her employer." Hilda said. The clock was ticking and a very unattractive decision had to be made. 

  
  


** 

  


Takana folded down the screen of the little portable computer and took in the view from the top of Craven's office complex. The time and location for the exchange was her employer's idea, and the sooner the better as far as Takana was concerned. The bounty-huntress was uncertain if Craven of any of his people would be present when Hilda showed up. On the one hand, she would be resentful of the interference if anybody did show up, but on the other hand the sooner Craven had Hilda in his custody, the sooner she could collect her pay. Standing behind her was the petite dark-haired woman- Craven's personal assistant. The bounty-huntress paid the woman no mind as she helped herself to a small pinch of root. She looked as though she were expecting something from Takana. 

The Ctarl Ctarl looked at the computer for a moment. Instead of handing back the computer to the woman, Takana abruptly flung it over the side of the balcony, almost like a discus. The machine spun around and had several hundred feet to go before hitting the ground below. 

"What did you do that for?" Craven's assistant angrily asked her. 

The Ctarl Ctarl simply glanced over the side of the building. "My mistake....." she said calmly before she walked past the assistant and back into the office. She knew that Terrans like Craven and those that worked for him had the technology to trace the call that she just made. Even though she wasn't familiar with anything remotely high-tech, she knew that anybody interested in tracing the call was going to have a hard time doing so if the call was kept relatively short and the computer that originally made the call had shattered into a thousand little pieces. One thing both Hilda and Takana had in common was a profound distrust for the likes of Ewan Craven. 

"I'm going to clean up and check on the captive. Make sure I'm not disturbed." Takana said to the woman. She could only glare at the Ctarl Ctarl as she walked away. She never questioned Mr. Craven's orders, but letting this stupid, arrogant creature have free reign over their offices- even if only for a few hours- couldn't be productive. 

  
  


** 

  


"What are we going to do, Hilda?" Jim asked the outlaw. Ordinarily he might defer to Gene with questions like this, but since Hilda was being asked for by name. Aisha looked as thought she was ready to scold Jim when the dark-haired Outlaw spoke up. 

"_WE_ aren't going to do anything." she said to Jim. The dark-haired outlaw was leaning over and examining the key-card, which was now being gently held in place by a pair of calipers. "She asked for Hilda- she'll be getting me instead." Gene looked up as Suzuka finished patching him up. He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that last statement, since he wasn't present when the former courier Sandoval explained that the Hilda that had re-appeared over the past few days was only a reasonable facsimile. 

"You're not thinking of going there by yourself?" Aisha asked Hilda as she starting delicately combing through the key-cards circuitry with a pair of tweezers. "How will we know if Melfina's still......" she stopped herself from continuing the sentence, realizing she was painting a very unpleasant scenario for the bio-android. 

"At no point did she instruct you to come alone." Suzuka observed. There seemed to be a calculating tone to her voice, which didn't go unnoticed by the dark-haired Outlaw. 

Hilda smiled. "Is what you have planned any different than what I had planned?" 

"There's no specific plan on my part, although I was considering something along the lines of safety in numbers." Suzuka said. "What exactly did you have in mind?" 

"It's not much of a plan, but it's a lot better than asking that bitch to pretty-please let Melfina go once I show up. Don't let this go to your head, cherry..." she said to Gene. "....but I'm going to need you and your big gun." 

"It's nice to be so popular." Gene said as he gingerly stood up without any help. There was no way in hell he was going to sit this out, stitches or not. 

  


**   


_**Takana's homeworld of the 38__th__ Ctarl Ctarl colony had a lot in common with the early colonization of a place called Australia from Old Earth. Both had started out as fairly harsh environments and the first few settlers were convicts, exiles and others deemed undesirable by the powers that be. Over time, the settlers were able to adapt and trade among themselves, becoming vibrant and fiercely independent in the process, but those first formative years were a real bitch. _

  


___Not more than four Ctarl Lunar years had gone by since Takana's father introduced her to the iaru root and even though the high that she felt was never far from her mind, it didn't dominate it like it would later on in her life, either. She had made her way up and down the mountain path many more times without incident. The older boys who admired from a distance the pretty girl who came down from the mountain forest now had their own mates selected for them, although it didn't keep them from continuing to longingly watch her. This didn't escape the notice of some of their future mates and the occasional wild and spiteful rumors about incest, dark magic and the "Hermit's daughter" surreptitiously circulated through the village whenever Takana would arrive._

  


_However, for the past few weeks something other than Aryo's beautiful daughter was on the villagers' minds. Disturbing reports of a plague were circulating- the population of many towns and villages on the 38__th__ Colony were already decimated. The local magistrate had the unenviable task of informing the populace that instead of sending doctors or medicine, the Imperial Ctarl Ctarl Fleet would simply quarantine the planet and destroy anybody caught trying to leave. Posters were set up in the villages graphically depicting how each phase of the Crimson Plague would affect it's victims. It wasn't pretty. What was most disturbing to Takana was when she overheard that the bodies of the plague victims were burned like so much trash. The homeworld would not send doctors or medicine, only low-ranking officers to enforce the burning of bodies in the infected villages. This concerned both Aryo and Takana greatly, since a tracker-killer from Clan Jaci-Jaci could never get to the Land of the Dead if their mortal coil was to be incinerated. If either their bodies were consumed by flame and turned to ash, their souls were doomed to forever wander outside the Land of the Dead._

  


_"Poppa?!" Takana asked as she cautiously stepped inside the cabin. Almost immediately a sense of dread and unease came over her. A chill went up her spine. Suddenly, their cabin was the last place she wanted to be. Death was in the air. The young woman's query was answered by a series of hacking coughs from a bundled figure lying on a flimsy cot._

  


___"Taki? Please.....leave" the gaunt, withered man that Takana barely recognized as her father wheezed. "Leave now- I don't want you to catch ill, too". The plague took away the authority in his voice as well. Takana contained herself as best she could. She had been gone for less than two full days. How could he have wasted away so quickly? It was almost as if he aged several decades overnight. The only sign of an ailment when she left was the occasional sneeze from him. She finally replied to his request._

  


___"I have nowhere to go.....I...I won't leave you by yourself, father." she said, sounding quite timid yet almost defiant at the same time. In the back of her mind she was aware of tears streaming down her cheeks. The strong, proud, devoted man who had raised her alone on this harsh gulag planet and taught her with pride how to live off of the land in the ways of her ancestors was now wasting away before her eyes and she could do nothing but see him off to the next world. But she had to be strong for him._

  


___"Stubborn girl." Aryo smiled wanly. "You sometimes remind me of your mother....."_

  


_The topic of her mother had not been brought up between the two for nearly a decade. Takana knew very little about the woman and her father was quite reluctant to mention her. But now, the look on the young Ctarl Ctarl's face gave every indication that she wanted to know more. He obliged._

  


_"I knew your mother for most of my life. She was so beautiful, sly and energetic. However, she was betrothed to another- an Imperial officer- when it was learned she was carrying our litter." Aryo paused. Takana was afraid that her father would break into another fit of coughing, but he steeled himself and continued. "Before sentencing her, the officer wanted to see if there would be any males from the litter that he could groom and raise to be his heir. However, you were the only one from the litter who wasn't stillborn, and I was exiled here with you when you were only a cub."_

  


_"What happened to momma?" Takana asked. The sentence for adultery and infidelity was drowning or a dagger in the left ear. "Was she executed.....?"_

  


_"No. Once you were born, she was sentenced to be the officer's servant for the rest of her life.....as though" he turned away as he let out a series of hacking coughs. Takana noticed that he was visibly upset ".........as though she was a piece of property to be bought and sold! It would've been the same had she consented to marry him. But rather than accept the sentence, she took her own......." he trailed off. There was now a heavy, pregnant silence inside the cabin. Several moments passed before it was broken._

_"Taki..." he said sternly. "Go to the cabinet. Next to my parchments, there is something I want you to have. You'll know what it is once you see it."_

__

__

The younger Ctarl Ctarl did as her father asked. Even though she had no formal education and was only partially literate, she knew the parchments contents line and verse. In addition to hunting, her father had spent the past few years teaching her traditional medicine. The parchments contained a list of ingredients of different roots, leaves, berries and fungi that had curative powers when combined correctly. However, these were used to treat things like mild fevers, cuts, sprains, burns and injuries likely to occur while hunting. There was nothing in her father's parchments about curing a plague. As she was considering this, a bright gleam caught her eye. It had to have been what her father was referring to. She reached in and pulled out a golden claw-shaped pendant adorned with intricate carvings and attached to a small gold chain. 

___"It once belonged to your mother. She was so very beautiful, like you." Aryo said. He smiled warmly once he turned his head and saw that his daughter was holding the pendant. The Plague had already taken away so much from him physically, but it was clear that the pride in his daughter remained undiminished. "I have been meaning to give this to you once you became a young lady, but...." he paused and suddenly his body was racked by a series of coughs. He slowly recovered and continued "......I never wanted to admit that my only little girl had grown up." _

  


___The pendant was beautiful in itself, but Takana held it in front of her with wide-eyed fascination. She could do nothing but gaze upon it and wonder about it's previous owner- a woman she had never met. Her mother? What sort of woman was she like? Was she as kind and loving as her father? Did she leave this world with any regrets haunting her?_

  


_"Taki?"_

  


_"Yes poppa?" the girl snapped out her reverie._

  


_"If you don't have any of the symptoms by now, then it's safe to say that you have an immunity." his eyes rolled and Takana was afraid that he's black out. Instead, he inhaled sharply and continued. He wasn't quite sure how to phrase his next request of her. "You've seen the posters in the village? The ones about the plague...?"_

  


_Takana nodded grimly. The girl was only semi-literate, but knew enough from the posters that the final symptoms were open, bleeding sores all over the body before the victim's lungs filled up with fluid. The Crimson Plague itself wasn't so much the killer as the infection that resulted from the open sores or the victim suffocating in their own blood and phlegm. It wasn't a pleasant death by any stretch of the imagination._

_"Then you know what's next. I want you to end it for me....."_

  


_"But...."_

  


_"TAKI...." he sternly hissed before succumbing to another fit of hacking coughs. After a moment he recovered. "You're the last in the Clan Jaci-Jaci bloodline and I trained you well. Honor my request." She could see the sincerity in his eyes. "Please..."_

  


_Seventeen Ctarl lunar cycles ago, the newly exiled Aryo Jaci-Jaci arrived on this world with his infant daughter. Takana realized that even under the best of circumstances, raising a child alone was extraordinarily difficult, let alone on this harsh gulag planet. Perhaps the easiest thing for Aryo to have done at the time was to drown the small child in the nearest creek or crush her skull with a large rock upon arrival. There was no penalty for such things in this corner of the Empire. However, he lovingly and painstakingly raised the girl to take pride in herself as well as both hunting and healing in the ways of her ancestors. As the years passed, this was something that was in the back of Takana's mind every night when she went to sleep. Now, the one who had given Takana life was now asking that she take his._

_"I love you, poppa." she said, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kissed his forehead. With a heavy heart, Takana realized she couldn't remember the last time she told him that. Such words weren't necessary for the elder Ctarl Ctarl- his deeds throughout Takana's lifetime spoke volumes on how much he cared for his only daughter. Now all she could do was close her eyes and carry out her father's wish. Her hands wrapped around his throat and squeezed with all of her might._

_For a moment, Aryo struggled. Then the elder Ctarl Ctarl held still as he realized that he was in very capable hands and his only other option was to waste away in front of his daughter. Takana closed her eyes and would not open them until she was certain the task was done. The strength left her legs as she opened her eyes and glimpsed the still form of her father. For what seemed like an eternity, she gently stroked his still-warm hand while cupping it to her tear-stained cheek._ __

  


_ Aryo Jaci-Jaci departed the World of the Living, leaving behind his only child, who was now a young woman. Takana was eventually able to stand up and wrap the body of her father in a makeshift funeral shroud before gently carrying him out to a small clearing behind their cabin. Using only her bare hands she managed to dig her father a five foot grave- she wouldn't let the Imperial Ctarl Ctarl Officers responsible for the quarantine burn her father like a piece of refuse. Chances are they wouldn't travel this deep into the wilderness to enforce the burnings, but Takana wasn't willing to wager her poppa's soul. Aryo Jaci-Jaci deserved much better than to have his mortal coil serve as fuel for a mass funeral pyre. _

  


___The dig was long, arduous work and every now and then she would openly weep while clutching her father's body. Takana's hands were raw and bloody from her efforts, but she ignored the pain as best she could. At times, it looked as though her father was merely sleeping. A profound emptiness overcame her as she cautiously lowered the body into the freshly dug grave. It was time to let her ancestors in the Land of the Dead know that her father would be joining them. As she was on her knees and pouring small clumps of dirt into her father's resting place, Takana Jaci-Jaci closed her eyes and released a loud, mournful, soul-shattering howl that rolled through the crisp night air.***_

  


The chestnut-haired Ctarl Ctarl gasped suddenly. Jets of scalding hot water coursed over her face. Takana had helped herself to the shower in Craven's executive washroom. She should have been savoring every moment of these luxuries that were unheard of on the remote gulag planet she grew up on, but whenever her attention wasn't focused on her work or her vice the Ctarl Ctarl would concentrate on her father and the lessons he taught her. For the past few years, Takana had only known the anguish of losing her only family and the futility of a high she could never sustain. 

The beast-woman turned off the shower and stepped onto the marble floor while hastily drying herself with an impossibly fluffy towel. Aside from the one she had slipped into, her meager wardrobe of four dresses were drip-drying as they were slung over the shower stall after she had hand-washed each of them in the sink. She meticulously laid out her weapons, herbs, ointments, salves and precious root on the beautiful granite counter top. Takana still marveled at her surroundings- she had never seen materiel wealth like this before. Was this the life that only the Empresses and Imperial Courtesans on the homeworld knew? Soon enough, she would have money of her own. The missing portion of her ear didn't bother her quite as much anymore, either. But something else was starting to eat away at Takana as her thoughts shifted between her father and the captive, expectant Terran she was holding in the next room. She had never seen a pregnant being before. It was something she found positively intriguing. The bounty-huntress couldn't help but wonder what sort of parent she would be if given the opportunity. As far as she was concerned, her father set the bar pretty high. 

  


Having considered that, Takana's vanity once again got the better of her as she wiped away the fog on the mirror. She couldn't help but smile as she looked over her own reflection. In it, she saw speed, beauty, cunning, pride and soon enough, unimaginable wealth. And it would be the last thing that Hot Ice Hilda would ever see.   


** 

  


In some ways, the Ctarl Ctarl's ransom demand came as something of a relief for Hilda. Instead of dwelling on Sandoval's revelation that she was merely a construct, she now had a more immediate problem to face. Construct or not, she often savored challenges, even if this one had no apparent solution. After tinkering with the safety-deposit box key-card for a few minutes, the very convincing clone of Hilda had made her way up the fire-escape to the roof of the building for some fresh air. She was a little surprised to find Gene already there. It was difficult to tell that he had been torn open earlier, since he was moving around fairly well. 

"What did you find out?" Gene asked, referring to her trip to Sandoval's place that morning.

"Nothing I wanted to hear, really. Turns out you were right; Hilda died at Farfallas. I'm just a knock-off of the real thing." 

He looked perplexed. 

"Sort of a hybrid of a clone and a construct implanted with most of her memories. I was made to throw the Kei pirates off from the original, but she died almost a month before I came out of cold sleep. And of course, by that time the pirates were focusing their search on you." she explained. She still didn't want to believe what Sandoval had told her earlier, but it was the only explanation that made sense. 

"Don't worry- I have no intention of running off." Hilda said. 

"Thought never crossed my mind. Didn't strike me as something you'd do." 

For a few moments, there was a long and somewhat awkward pause. 

"I knew things could get ugly, but I didn't think Melfina would be put in danger." Hilda said. On some level, Gene knew this, but it sounded like Hilda was trying to convince herself. "So much for a fresh start. I may not be the same person, but I get Hilda's likeness and memories, and of course all the people who want to kill me are still around. The worst part is, I don't even get the pleasure of doing whatever it was that pissed them off in the first place. If you or Melfina or Jim can't even tell the difference between me and the real thing, what makes you think that they'll know? Or care?" 

"You don't think we're just going to walk away once we meet up with these people?" Gene asked.

"Not at all, although in the long run it may be the smart thing to do.it's not like they'll let you walk away once we show up." 

"I'm not sure how to put this.......we're not exactly well-known for making smart decisions." 

Hilda smiled. "True. But tell me, do you regret anything you've done after leaving Sentinel?" 

"Not a thing." he said without hesitation. 

"Maybe a 'smart' person would've played it safe and parted company with Hilda at the first opportunity." she paused. Referring to Hilda in the third person would take some getting used to. 

"Or stayed the hell away from Rachel Sweet." Gene said, shaking his head. "What kind of alias was that? I can't believe we fell for that one." 

"Technically, I suppose I'm still a virgin." Hilda mused. The cocky red-headed outlaw's face was flush and he was stammering, at a loss for a reply. The dark haired outlaw continued coyly "Now I know you may have a thing for constructs- especially dark-haired ones- but I doubt you'd last ten seconds with me."

  
  


** 

The Broken Wing. That meant taking someone of great value to your prey and deliberately placing it in harm's way in order to get the prey out in the open that much quicker. The more Takana thought about it, the more she realized her methods to lure Hilda out of hiding resembled that of the Broken Wing. She knew *exactly* how that phrase was coined. On more than one occasion during hard times when there was very little to eat, both Takana and her father had to resort to using the broken wing. Both Aryo and Takana deplored the tactic- Tracker-Killers had far more respect for the animals in the wilderness that traditionally surrounded them than they did other Ctarl Ctarl, especially authority figures. It was the sort of thing that had earned her clan the reputation of being nothing more than a group of thieves, sadists and poachers on the Ctarl Ctarl homeworld. 

In order for the Broken Wing to be effective, she needed to find the nest of an eria berra berra- the large owl-like creatures that were once in abundance on her homeworld. Assuming that the parents were searching for food themselves, she would make her way up the tree and grab one of the nestlings. If the young bird was already able to fly and could evade capture, then the huntress would have to seek out another nest. However, if the nestling was unable to escape, then she would deliberately break it's wing or leg before taking it and setting it down in a clearing. Clearly frightened and in pain, the young bird's only recourse was to call out for it's mother. The worst part for Takana was waiting for the mother to return- she had several hours to listen to the bird crying for help and contemplate what she had just done to it, all too aware that her actions couldn't be undone. Once the mother landed to check on the injured nestling, she would spring out of hiding and launch the bolo, breaking the mother's neck almost instantly. Since the young bird was already injured would be helpless against any predators if left behind, the only charitable thing left to do was to put the nestling out of it's misery. To be taken away from your nest, left to writhe on the ground crippled and in agony, then watch your mother die before having your skull crushed by your captor- all this before you could ever spread your wings and learn to fly. She had the feeling that doing this was inviting the Creator's wrath upon her. However, given the choice of starving and capturing prey by means of the Broken Wing, she would rather take the prey. 

As Takana was contemplating this, she noticed her captive stirring. Melfina's eyes fluttered open. She was in a plush yet dimly-lit room. Traces of steam clung to a mirror and a framed photograph on the wall opposite her. 

"Good. You're awake." Takana said. 

Mel let out a startled gasp and shied away from the Ctarl Ctarl halfway across the room. She saw that the tracker-killer's auburn hair was still damp and spiky from the shower. 

"Where am I?" Melfina asked. She remembered the conversation with Hilda the other night. "Is this-?" 

She was cut off by her captor. "The less you know now, the better your chances are of making out of this......" the tracker-killer paused, searching for the right word ".........unharmed." 

Melfina remained silent as the Tracker-Killer looked her over. 

"What's it like? I want to know." Takana asked suddenly. 

Mel was a little bewildered and didn't immediately know what her captor was referring to. "Wh-what do you mean?" 

Takana walked over and gently placed her hand on Melfina's belly. After seeing what the tracker-killer was capable of doing with her bare hands, this made the bio-android quite nervous. Yet there wasn't any malice or hostility in her voice- only curiosity. 

"I've always wondered what it was like to be with child." the Tracker-Killer mused. 

"You don't have any children?" Melfina asked. She realized how stupid that sounded once she asked that out loud- chances were that working as a hired killer didn't exactly make too many allowances for maternity leave. Still, her captor seemed much more lucid and calm than before, and Mel preferred she remained that way. 

Takana dejectedly shook her head. "I'm too young for such responsibility" she sighed. Of course, both of them knew there was more to it than that. After a pause, she spoke again. "How many are you carrying? Will it be a big litter?" 

Judging from the confused look on Mel's face, Takana could assume that Craven was correct in his statement about humans not giving birth in litters. 

"Humans can sometimes have twins or triplets, but usually it's one child at a time. This is my first, and I only found out a few days ago." Melfina explained. 

"The father....?" the bounty huntress interrupted. 

"I haven't even told him yet." she sighed 

"Ctarl Ctarl usually give birth in litters of three or four." Takana explained rather proudly to her captive. The expression on her face changed abruptly. "But I'm the only one from my litter to have survived". Again, her voice sounded subdued and melancholy. 

Takana's good ear twitched upon feeling a slight stirring as her hand was over Mel's belly. The baby was kicking and both of them could feel it. The bounty-huntress smiled a little as she gently pulled her hand away from Melfina. 

"Are Terrans monogamous?" she asked rather suddenly. 

Melfina actually blushed a little. It was true that Gene hadn't been screwing around since they returned from the Leiline, but the Gene she remembered from beforehand wasn't exactly the picture of monogamy. "Actually, I'm a bio-android, so I'm not really qualified to......" 

"Nani? You're.....manufactured?" Takana interrupted, her now jaw slack. She had never seen a construct or bio-android before, and nothing about Melfina seemed to indicate she was synthetic. 

"Umm....that's only partly true, but I guess you could say that." Melfina started to explain. "I'm flesh and blood, like most other humans, but my cerebral functions are augmented by computers and circuitry." 

Takana was a little relieved to hear Melfina say that, fearing that her senses were beginning to fail her. The fear she smelled earlier certainly wasn't artificial. 

"How old are you? You look as though you're not quite my age..." 

"I was activated nearly two years ago." 

Takana slowly clenched her fangs and closed her eyes as this sank in. Two years? How is it that she had known nothing more than scorn, solitude and pain for the past decade, yet the manufactured being in front of her already had a home, a child on the way and a mate that she was clearly willing to die for? This realization devastated her more than any weapon or assailant ever could have. Takana suddenly felt very weary. This machine's pregnancy had to be some sick joke by the Creators... 

"Are....are you OK?" the bio-android asked. 

The only response from Mel's captor was a soft, guttural growling. The tracker-killer's fist shot out to the wall on her right, cracking the smooth marble paneling as she finally opened her eyes. Suddenly, the bio-android felt as though she was trapped in a cage with a feral and extremely dangerous animal. 

"You have no idea........" Takana almost whispered, her breath hitching. She could only glare at her captive. Again, she closed her eyes. Tears of helpless rage were barely being held back, and her vanity would not allow her to be seen reduced to tears in front of this living doll. Just as easily as the talking hoax in front of her had been given life, Takana realized that it could be taken away with so much as a gesture on her part. The tracker-killer decided she was going to snap off each of Melfina's fingers and skin her alive to see how authentic she really was before....... 

_**DON'T! She's of no use if she's dead**_ the tracker-killer admonished herself. _**She didn't ask to be manufactured any more than you asked to be the sole survivor of your litter. Killing her won't undo all that's happened. It will only make matters worse. Poppa wouldn't approve....** _she stopped herself. Poppa would approve very little of what she had done since he passed away. As though he were standing in front of her, she turned her head away in profound shame. Tracker-Killers were once the equivalent of game-wardens within the Empire and were supposed to take what they needed and nothing more from the land, not sell their services to the highest bidder. That scent- almost like jasmine blossoms- was in the air. Mel's captor realized it was coming from the bio-android. Takana slowly regained her composure and stroked the pendant around her neck. Perhaps another hit of root could calm her down. Takana sighed as she looked at the pendant. 

"Do you even have a mother?" the bounty-huntress heard herself ask Melfina. It was a slip of the tongue that she alone was aware of. She had no right to ask the android about a mother if she never knew her own mother. Upon gazing at the manufactured being in front of her who was somehow able to conceive life, she was filled with the same sense of unease as when she had climbed up to the bird's nest on her homeworld, prepared to inflict a slow and agonizing death on the young bird. For some reason, Takana could not shake the feeling that the time for her penance was fast approaching.   


** 

  


"Aisha...." Jim pleaded "Let me go with you. I want Mel back as badly as anybody else". The boy had a pistol, light shield, a night-vision scope and a small computer on him. 

Aisha got down on her haunches and looked Jim squarely in the eye. It was frustrating. While Gene and Hilda were outside, Suzuka was calmly sipping a cup of tea, Aisha was impatiently pacing like a caged tiger and Jim was trying to formulate some sort of plan even though none of them were sure what they were up against. The Ctarl Ctarl thought she had made clear her displeasure at Jim's plans on getting involved in the exchange. She had already explained over and over that they were heading into a trap and a bloodbath would most likely be the end result. There were so many reasons he shouldn't come along. But at that moment, it hit her why she admired the boy so much after more than a full Ctarl Ctarl Calendar year together. No matter how much the odds were against him, he was willing to fight for those closest to him- even if it meant giving up his young life. For Melfina, for Gene, for Hilda and even for her. Such loyalty and dedication was hard to come by, no matter what the species. This was the way he had always been, probably even before he met Gene. She was a little bit ashamed of herself for not recognizing this sooner. A moment ago, she wanted to scold him. Now, without saying a word, she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him. 

"Are you OK?" Jim asked, his words slightly muffled by tufts of platinum hair as he returned her embrace as best he could. 

"I'm fine Jimmy..." she said as she gently kissed his cheek. "Don't you worry. We'll bring Mel back. Just you see." 

Hilda was standing in the doorway, watching the boy being held in the warrior's arms. Under most circumstances, Aisha would have been quite resentful of the intrusion. But that wasn't the case as she looked up at the Outlaw. 

"Are Gene and Suzu ready to go?" she asked Hilda. The Outlaw quietly nodded. 

The Ctarl Ctarl turned her attention back to Jim. His face was now a deep shade of crimson as Aisha's lips moved in right next to his ear. It felt so nice to be held and cared for by somebody like her, and every time she did this, he silently hoped that she would never let him go. It never ceased to amaze him how Aisha was capable of great destruction with her bare hands, yet whenever she held him it felt so very soft and reassuring. At times, her embrace was the only thing Jim could take comfort in. 

Her warm breath spilled into his ear and down his neck as she softly whispered "I'm sorry, Jim." 

"What for?" the bewildered boy-genius asked just before Aisha delivered a swift, relatively gentle open-handed chop to the side of Jim's neck. Immediately he went limp in her arms. Aisha gently lifted up the unconscious boy and laid him out on the sofa, checking his breathing and pulse. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, so she picked up a folded blanket on the edge of the sofa. 

"I won't let you throw away your life, not tonight...." she whispered into the unconscious boy's ear. He looked so serene and peaceful- like the countless times he fell asleep in front of his computer balancing the Starwind and Hawking books or trying to find work. Aisha didn't want to hurt Jim, but she had even less desire to see him in a casket. It would be better if the boy woke up angry at her for awhile than to never wake up again. She gently draped a blanked over him and affectionately tousled his hair before turning to Hilda to indicate that she was ready. 

"I couldn't talk him out of it." she explained to her. 

The Outlaw remained silent, thinking back to her somewhat prophetic words to Jim at the farm on Sentinel. _**Everybody needs a partner. You'll understand soon enough.**_


	8. Best Laid Plans

_Disclaimer: I own a NEW Ford Ranger pick-up (Goodbye, ornery Nissan! *heh heh*), a new Apex DVD player, oodles of import DVDs, the same old banged-up Ricoh camera (which is in the camera hospital), some Fuji film that was given to me for free, more denim, some Japanese textbooks, a pair of old Army jungle boots, but the last time I checked, I did not own Outlaw Star. I'm pretty sure that's the brainchild of Takehito Ito, God bless 'im! _

  


Takana emerged from the room where Melfina was being held, which was adjacent to Craven's office. The bio-android was possibly the least threatening thing in all of the known universe, yet Takana was increasingly uncomfortable in her presence. She was at a loss for an explanation as to why. More disconcerting to Takana was that she couldn't really bring herself to detest her captive. 

"What do you want?" 

"My fee, of course...." 

Craven glanced around the office before facetiously asking the Ctarl Ctarl. "Look around. Do you see Hilda anywhere in here?" 

"No, but Hilda is sure to...." 

"That's funny, neither do I. You'll get paid once I see Hilda- I don't think that's an unreasonable condition for collecting your wages." 

Takana fumed quietly. Craven might as well have slapped her in the face after making such a remark, and Takana was unwilling to let it slide. As the dapper executive began walking out of his office, the Tracker-Killer spoke up. 

"Was it something that Hilda took from you?" 

Craven stopped dead in his tracks. "Excuse me- I don't think that's any of your....." 

"Or was it something she wouldn't let you take from her? Is that it?" Takana interrupted. "None of my previous clients had been so insistent that I bring in my quarry alive. It's almost as though you have some sort of attachment......" 

"It's not too late for me to terminate my contract with you." Craven snapped. 

"It's not too late for me to terminate Hilda, and whatever secret she keeps so close to her heart that you're so interested in will die with her". the Ctarl Ctarl shot back. "I nearly forgot. Your people did such a wonderful job of tracking Hilda on their own that I suppose you simply hired me for the sake of pity. And I'm sure they can find Hilda long before I could kill her......" Throwing the computer terminal she used to contact Hilda off of the building was looking more and more like the right thing to do for Takana. The tracker-killer figured she had jumped through enough hoops for this arrogant Terran and that she was entitled to better treatment. 

The two of them glared at each other. Craven was about to say something when Takana cut him off. "Who do you think you're talking to? Understand this, you condescending Terran. I _AM NOT _your servant! Don't think you can treat me like one. I've lived up to my end of the bargain and I'll overlook your bluster long enough to see to it that you live up to yours." 

  


** 

The video phone rang once again. Gene, Aisha, Hilda and Suzuka were still a few minutes away from getting ready to leave in the Ehefrau and thought it might be Melfina's captor calling to inform them of revised demands or a different meeting place. Thanks to Aisha, Jim was out like a light on the sofa. As he answered the pone, the red-haired outlaw was fully anticipating another call from Takana. Instead, he was very surprised to find the mechanic Swanzo on the other end of the viewscreen. 

"You lied to me kid!" the little Corbonite said as soon as he saw Gene's likeness. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"Where's Hilda!? What did you do with her!? What happened to Horus!?" Swanzo began asking the red-haired Outlaw accusingly, not bothering wait for an answer. 

Gene was spared answering the understandable and numerous questions Swanzo had for him when Hilda gently pushed him out of the way so that she was standing squarely in front of the phone's viewscreen.

"Swanzo? How did you get this number?" she started to ask.

The diminutive mechanic uttered a few startled words in his native tongue at first sight of Hilda before remembering that he should be speaking in a Terran language. "It really is you, isn't it?." the mechanic asked.

Before the Hilda-construct could explain the current situation to Swanzo, the diminutive mechanic continued speaking. 

"Mikey's gone, Hilda......she killed him......" 

"What are you talking about, Swanzo?!?" 

"A Ctarl Ctarl woman showed up in the maintenance bay the other day and showed us a picture of you. We thought you were a goner and that it was some kind of sick joke. Then, when she started pushing me around, Mikey tried kicking her out. But.....she killed him. She just....slashed his throat right open." The little reptilian creature was clearly still shaken up by this. 

The red-haired Outlaw was starting to put two and two together. If the Ctarl Ctarl bounty huntress didn't follow Hilda to Starwind and Hawking, then that meant somebody told her where they could find Hilda, or at least someone knew of her whereabouts.

"You're the one who told her where we live!?" Gene fumed. 

"I just gave her a printout on the ship so she wouldn't kill me too. I figured the information would've been outdated by now. Besides- if you were really interested in laying low, how come I've seen your ship in the Space Race for two years in a row?" 

"Mikey's.....dead?" the Hilda-facsimile asked in disbelief. 

"Yes. She killed him and then broke my arm. I thought for sure you were a goner, too, Hilda. But ever since that animal came here and attacked us, I don't know what to think...."

"What did she look like?" Hilda suddenly demanded. She had a good idea of who Swanzo was talking about but wanted to be absolutely sure.

"Uh....about your height, brown hair, some kind of marking on her leg. She was wearing a black cloak and part of her ear was missing."

"And you say she killed Mikey?"

"Yeah. He tried fighting her off , but........"

Even though Hilda wasn't completely taken by surprise by what Swanzo had to say, Gene and the others couldn't help but notice a look of shock and disbelief come over her face. The last thing anyone, particularly the Hilda-construct, needed tonight was more bad news.

  


** 

_ At face value, most would consider an immunity to the dreaded Crimson Plague that decimated an entire planet a blessing. However, Takana Jaci-Jaci viewed her resitance to the disease a curse. The anguish, emptiness and smoldering rage she felt after killing her father could hardly be called "living" by any stretch of the imagination. After burying her father, Takana Jaci-Jaci had reluctantly packed up her meager posessions and set out on her own, leaving the only home she had ever known to the elements. She had come across her father's cache of iaru root as well as some raw ingredients to produce a more milder version. Takana knew she shouldn't, but she had helped herself to the remaining root in the cabin. Her hands were still bloodied and raw from digging a grave for Aryo, but what truly ate at her was an unfathomable despair that accompanied knowing that her only family was gone forever. She didn't want to feel anymore, and the root eased her pain in more ways than one. _

_The village where she and her father would conduct business was now eerily silent. It had taken her a few days to reach it, since she was moving at a leisurely pace, unsure of her destination now. If there were any survivors, they had either fled or were relocated. Aside from the occasional drop of water falling into a stagnant, algae filled pool, the small but ornately decorated marble fountain in the main square was still. Takana could also smell the remnants of a long-extinguished fire and singed flesh lingering in the air. A cold and empty feeling came over her when she saw a small pile of blackened bones and dark ash atop the scorched earth next to the ruined fountain. As much as she wanted to turn away from the sight in front of her, the young Ctarl Ctarl stood transfixed at the sight of a charred, skeletal hand poking out from the extinguished pyre. It was as though it were trying to escape even in death. She was finally able to turn away, but as she thought about the souls in the village who could never get to the Land of the Dead now, Takana was overcome with the sensation as though she was plummeting down some bottomless pit. The young woman collapsed onto her hands and knees and began to dry-heave. _

_ Winter was fast setting in, and there was hardly any harvest to speak of. The plague had wiped out most of the farmers, leaving the reigon's modest agricultural yield to wither and die in the fields. Most of the prey would soon be hibernating or migrating. Food would have to be imported from off-world. That meant remaining here wouldn't be an option._

_ For days, she made her way down a dusty road leading from the village to one of the colony's secondary spaceports. Not unlike her ancestors, she would put her surroundings to good use. The wild berries and small reptiles she came across were her meals, the branches of the trees were her bed, the streams were her bath and the leaves and roots of various plants she came across would become her pharmacy and first-aid kit. The young lady's hands were still slowly healing after digging her father's grave. Each time she approached a village, the girl cautiously skirted it since she was able to pick up the arcid smell of charred flesh from a few kilometeres away. The more distance she kept, the better- Takana was fearful that if she got too close to some of the extinguished funeral pyres that she smelled in each village, the charred skeletal hands of the dead would somehow reach out and pull her into a suddenly replenished fire. To avoid that unlikely scenario, she avoided the dead villages altogether. The common trait every village had was that each was completely devoid of life. Not a hint of movement except for whatever was stirred by the wind. As twilight was fast approaching at the end of the second day of her journey, Takana noticed an increasingly bright etheral glow over a small mountain range to the west while she was skirting the fourth or fifth such dead village. It was dark and the stars were out as she ascended the mountain path. Anticipation filled her as she made her way up. The closer she got to the path's summit, the quicker she moved, breaking into sprint for the last few meters. It did indeed look so beautiful from a distance. Almost like finely crushed dragonite chips spread out against a dark, uneven silky surface. To the west of the city was the spaceport, the launching towers lined up like metallic trees in a huge concrete orchard. Some of the towers had a few commercial or military craft securely docked, but the remainder were vacant. Moreover, after spending days avoiding entire villages populated only by the dead, Takana could detect signs of life carried to her by the nighttime breeze. The young tracker-killer was certain she could hear an infant wailing and her nose detected meat grilling over an open flame. It was very faint and very distant, yet he sights and sounds were quite welcoming to her. She was also quite weary from her journey. As nice as a warm cot someplace in the city sounded, it was a nice and mild night for this late into the harvest season. The young woman quickly clambered up a tree adjacent to the path, taking in the glimmering lights and disjointed sounds of the city beneath her. It felt assuring for her to know that she wasn't the sole survivor of this plague. The girl stretched out on the tree limb, admiring the populated city from a distance as though it were a long-lost friend she didn't want to disturb just yet. It was the last thing the weary girl saw before she drifted off to sleep. _

_ Yet, uncertainty filled the girl as she made her way through the city the following morning. If there wasn't any prey to capture, how would she eat? Where would she sleep? Bartering worked fine in the village, but she had a feeling the merchants here wouldn't be so accommodating. Something tugged at her arm before she could continue to the marketplace._

_ "Alms, ma'am?" a voice spoke up. _

_ The girl looked down and saw a child of no more than the Terran equivalent of 9 years old with almost jet-black hair and dressed in filthy tattered rags looking up at her, his hand extended. She was immediately taken aback by the intensity in his eyes. They were the eyes of somebody who had witnessed entirely too much death and suffering at such a young age. Takana didn't know it, but she had the very same look in her own eyes. _

_ "I....I.....I'm sorry. I have none...." Takana stammered. _

_ He bowed his head politely. "May the Creators bless you anyway." he said before limping away. _

_ That brief encounter stayed in her mind as she continued through the marketplace. She soon came across a vendor who's stall looked like it had a nice inventory of cloth and fabrics._

_ "What do you want in exchange for this?" she asked the vendor as she held up some fabric. _

_ "Seven dagnis......" _

_ The girl looked perplexed at this. In her home-village, she was used to bartering prey and medication in exchange for items her and her father needed. Transactions based on hard currency was a completely foreign concept to her. She was pondering what she had to offer the merchant when she felt somebody roughly yank the fabric from her hands. _

_ "If you're not going to purchase this, then let me display it to somebody who will!" the vendor scolded her. The girl timidly backed away from the angry vendor. The man seemed to be in no mood to barter. She started wondering if she could sell some of the herbs and ointments she accumulated on her way to the city for cash. Yet she had absolutely no idea of what a fair price would be or if there was even a demand for such things. _

_ As she pondered this, Takana observed a trio of men in green tunics- most likely officers from off-world. They were furiously stomping and kicking what appeared to be a pile of rags. Except she could hear the bundle of rags crying out. _

_ "No.....don't hurt me........" she heard a familiar-sounding voice cry from beneath the flurry of kicks. It was the young beggar she saw a few minutes prior. "Please.....I'm sorry!" _

_ "Your being sorry won't give us our rations back, vermin!" _

_ "I promise......I won't do it again." _

_ "We'll see to it that you won't do it again, you son of a whore!" _

_ Several years later, the young lady would try and figure out why she felt compelled to intervene on the young beggar's behalf. Perhaps she saw an opportunity to make amends with the creators for using the Broken Wing to capture and kill prey. Or perhaps it was something in his eyes or voice that moved her. Whatever the reason, the young Ctarl Ctarl rose to her feet and headed towards the commotion against her better judgement. _

_ "What are you doing!?" Takana snapped as she shoved one of the smaller officers aside. _

_The other two stopped what they were doing and glared at her. _

_ "Leave us be, woman. This doesn't concern you." _

_ She turned to face one of the officers , but before the young tracker-killer could say anything, she felt a small weight pulling on her leg. _

_ "Please......" the tiny beggar pleaded, looking up at her with those haunting eyes that were now tear-stained and bloodshot. Next to him was not even half a loaf of bread, torn apart and throughly trampled and coated with a brownish slime from the gutter. _

_ "Are you family?" one of the lower ranking officers asked. _

_ "So what if I am?" Takana was paying them no mind as she got down on her haunches and began doing a cursory examination of the boy. Many Ctarl Ctarl readily knew of her clan's reputation of being exceptionally ruthless and devious- something that dated back to the days of tracking escaped slaves and prisoners from the Tuve-Tuve Dynasty. However, very few knew of or were willing to acknowledge clan Jaci-Jaci's prowess with traditional medicine. _

_ She didn't see any signs of bleeding, but there was bound to be plenty of internal injuries judging from beating she saw him endure. _

_ "We caught this little rodent stealing our dinner." The lead officer said curtly. _

_ Takana was quietly taken aback. Intuition told her that the little boy in front of her seemed to be typical of many other survivors of the Crimson Plague- most likely orphaned or separated from his family and surviving the disease only to run the risk of succumbing to starvation, secondary infection or exposure. Yet all these officers seemed to care about was the few crumbs stolen from them. She glared up at the lead officer, a portly man with graying temples. "It looks as if you could miss a few meals. You probably can't even see your manhood over that belly of yours." _

_ As she turned her attention back to the young beggar, gently running her hands up the boy's spine and trying to feel if any of the vertibrate were broken or out of alignment, the lead officer delivered a jarring kick to Takana's ribs. One second she was crouched over the child and the next thing she knew, she was a meter away facedown in the street, hands splayed out in front of her. Instinctively, she clutched at her pendant to make sure it was still there. _

_ "Watch your tongue, whore!" he said as the tracker-killer gingerly got back to her feet. It hurt like hell, but Takana decided she wasn't going to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing her in pain. She walked back over to the young beggar, daring any of them to get in her way again. Takana caught a glimpse of the officer's badge on his tunic as she passed. It was written in the same High Ctarl dialect as the faded but still highly visible tattoo on her leg- her's had read "Outcast" with the sub-text "Born of Adulterous Union" since her infancy. However, her assailant's badge read "Victory and Honor". What a crock of shit that was. According to Aryo's dying decleration, it was the Imperial Officers who were responsible for her mother's suicide, her father's expulsion and herself being branded an outcast almost since birth. Now she was seeing the Ctarl Ctarl Deep Space Fleet's creed of Victory and Honor embodied by a trio of grown men beating a starving child over a few missing breadcrumbs. _

_ Taking a cue from his superior, one of the junior officers spoke up. "How much would it cost for you to keep my bed warm tonight, girl? Half a loaf of Oiha bread from the Officer's mess?" he sneered. _

_ "Why pay for something you can simply take for free?" the other officer chimed in. "I wager she wouldn't put up that much of a fight." _

_ "You flatter yourselves. No amount of money in the Empire would persuade me to let any of you near me. Try violating me, and the first one to touch me will curse their mothers as they bleed to death" the young Ctarl woman said quite convincingly as she slid off her bracelet-knife- another gift from her father whose primary purpouse was skinning their prey. Given how quickly she got onto her feet after getting kicked, each of them realized that she was tougher than they had first thought. She made eye contact with all three of them, daring each one to make the first move. Indeed, the three of them could have easily overpowered her but they were also aware that she could inflict a lot of pain on any one of them in the process.. _

_ "Don't even think about taking her back to the barracks, lieutenant. She may look nice, but I suspect she's crawling with lice and vermin like everybody else on this shit-hole. We would have to burn all the linens......" the lead officer spoke up once more. A small but increasing gaggle of spectators was beginning to form around the beggar, young lady and three officers. The Captain only said this as a means to get his men to stand down in front of all these witnesses without losing face. _

_ Takana didn't care. She was at last satisfied that she felt no breaks and fractures along the boy's spine. "It looks as though you'll have to continue mounting each other tonight. I'm curious- which one of you pretends to be the woman, or do you take turns? Or maybe you like little boys. Perhaps you attacked the child because he spurned your advances....?" _

_ "Shut up! You filthy, diseased slut......." the captain started to bellow. _

_ "Ah....I understand now. Impotent. What a pity. I might have something for that in my satchel, but I wager that I'd be doing little boys everywhere a favor by not giving it to you." she grinned, fully anticipating another kick from behind. It was fine by her- if nothing else, then chances are her remarks would divert their attention from the unfortunate boy in front of her. The lead officer was happy to oblige. However, his subordinates were holding him back and a small crowd was starting to form, glowering disapprovingly at the trio of officers losing their temper. _

_ "Captain! Sir! We've wasted enough time here." one of the lieutenants urged. "She's not worth it. The two of them belong together...." he sneered, looking down at Takana and the boy. _

_ "Worthless whore...." one of the subordinates spat at the young woman as the three officers began walking away. _

_ Without even thinking, Takana picked up a chunk of the soggy bread lying in the gutter water. It was about as appetizing as warmed-over fecal matter. _

_ "You forgot you precious bread!" she yelled out, flinging the ruined food in the genral direction of the three officers walking away from her. It landed on the shoulder of one of the subordinates with a gratifying **splat** as it broke up, much of it scattering onto the lieutenant's face and ear. The trio paused for a moment- the smaller officer wiping the slimy residue from his face and tunic. This earned a collective chortle from the gaggle of onlokers. Takana's only regret was that none of the officer's turned around, denying her a glimpse of their facial expressions. The young tracker-killer and the small crowd of onlookers around her braced for a confrontation that never came. _

_ "Thank you...." the child sobbed gratefully. "Thank you so much......I don't know what...." the rest of his words were unintelligible murmurs as he continued sobbing and buried his face in Takana's cloak. The tracker-killer found herself doing what came naturally as she protectively wrapped an arm around the beggar. As the child drew close to her, she could feel that he was shaking like a leaf. Takana was also aware that the unfortunate lad also reeked of urine- he had understandably pissed himself while being beaten by a group of men three times his size. He was softly whispering something over and over. _

_ "I don't want to die....I don't want to die....I don't want to die......." _

_ "Hush......" she said to the child in her most soothing voice possible as she gently stroked the back of his ear with her thumb. "Don't talk like that. You'll be all right. Everything's fine now". It was a lie, but it was a lie she felt the child in her arms needed to hear. _

_ "Shed no more tears......." she cooed. Even though the show was over and the onlookers were beginning to scatter, she suddenly felt very awkward. She found it genuinely disturbing to hear somebody half her age talking like that. Gradually, the boy's wailing and the sniffling subsided. She sensed that he was doing his best to put on a brave face for his savior. _

_ "You must be hungry......" Takana said absently as she rifled through her satchel. Her hands found a cluster of dried Nurmes Tree Lizard tails that from some that she had caught herself while en route to the city. None of them were very big- each one was about the size of her index finger and the chalky preservative they were carried in made them taste even more bitter- but she figured it was better than offering the boy nothing. She held one of the tails in her palm and the child quickly snatched it before greedily cramming it into his mouth. As far as the child was concerned, it was a fine six-course feast. Their eyes met and a look of shame clouded the child's face as he swallowed the morsel Takana gave him. _

_ "Do you have a name?" _

_ The boy furiously bobbed his head up and down, undeniably thrilled that his savior had wanted to know his name. "Yes! Sarris Taarn Taarn." _

_ Takana held out another lizard tail in her palm, offering it to the boy. Sarris' face lit up with delight as he took it, this time bowing his head in gratitude to her before he devoured it. Even after finishing her offering, he didn't take his eyes off of her. It looked as though he was expecting something else from Takana, and it wasn't food. _

_ "Your name......?" he timidly asked. _

_ "Takana." _

_ "That's a pretty name....." Sarris mused. "Takana." he said slowly and deliberately, enjoying the way it sounded coming from his mouth. "Were you sent by the Creators?" _

_ She was caught off-guard by that question. "Not that I'm aware of." she absently chuckled. "Do you have a family?" Takana asked, even though she was already certain of the answer. _

_ "Mother and Father died from the Plague. So did Itami and Oshiia, my sisters. I've been on my own since then." _

_ "I see..." Takana said. Things in this city weren't much better than in the villages she passed through earlier. "Where are you staying now?" _

_ "There's an abandoned mill on the road leading to the hills- it's where I sleep and I seem to be the only one who knows about it.." _

_ Takana remembered passing a structure like that on her way into the city. _

_ "Show me the way and I'll take you there." she offered, helping the injured boy to his feet. "Climb on". Regardless of how near or far away he was living, having him walk any distance in his condition just wasn't a good idea. The boy hesitantly climbed onto Takana's back while she was on her haunches, his small hands firmly gripping each shoulder. _

_ "It's that way.." he said, pointing towards the road Takana entered the city on. _

_ The young woman leaned down to scoop up her satchel before walking in the direction Sarris indicated. After a few moments of awkward silence and walking uphill, the boy spoke up once again. _

_ "Takana....the Deity of North Mountains had an arch-seraphim named Takana. She was a skilled huntress and sorceress who served as his protector and confidant..." _

_ "How do you know this?" she asked him. _

_ "My father had an extensive collection of the Ancient Texts of Ctarl in his library. There were also some translated Silgry and Terran works". _

_ "So you like books then? You're full of surprises." the bemused Tracker Killer told Sarris. _

_ "Takana was beautiful, compassionate to all creatures that dwelled in the North mountains and fiercely loyal to her Diety." Sarris continued. "That's why I wanted to know if you were sent by the Creators." _

_ "Are you saying that I remind you of my namesake?" _

_ The boy paused for a moment. "Yes....I guess I am." _

_ Takana laughed out loud for the first time since she left her home. Sarris was momentarily confused until the Tracker Killer spoke up. At first, she was somewhat amazed that the boy was still concious, let alone speaking. But after so many days of wandering through the dead countryside on her own for days on end, Sarris turned out to be surprisingly good company. _

_ "What a charming young lad you are, Sarris. You certainly know the right things to say to a lady." _

_ "I.....I....I'm only speaking the truth." the flustered young Ctarl Ctarl stammered. Through the flimsy rags he was wearing, Takana cold sense the boy's body temperature rising. The nature of the conversation led her to believe it wasn't fever- more like blushing. _

_ "I understand that- it's part of the charm." she said. "Someday, you will make some lovely young maiden very happy when you select her to be your mate, and believe me, there will be plenty of them asking for the privilege....". she paused for a moment, her statement reminding Takana of those times when her father would tease her about all the handsome young warriors from the village who would undoubtedly be lining up to request the privilage of being her mate once she reached the Age of Consent. _

_ "I would only want a mate like you, but you're very unique." _

_ The young lady bit her tongue, certain that she was now blushing _

_ "Yet you hardly know me....." Takana said. _

_ "Do I have to know you to appreciate what you've done?" _

_ "You don't know why I've done it, though." she paused. She was at a loss for an explanation herself- at least one that could be summed up into a simple one sentence answer. Takana figured she should steer the conversation away from that before the boy questioned her. "For all you know, I could be taking you away to make a stew with you as the main ingredient." the orphaned cat-girl said slyly. _

_ The boy paused for a moment. "If that's true, then perhaps you should fatten me up first. As you can see, I'm all skin and bones." _

_ Takana couldn't help herself as she cocked her head slightly, reaching behind her and affectionately flicking Sarris' ear with her thumb and forefinger. "You're never at a loss for words, are you?" she laughed. In the back of her mind, she was aware that she was actually smiling. The first time in weeks she could remember laughing or smiling. _

_ "You're not the first one to notice that." the boy said before indicating they had arrived. She looked up to see an abandoned windmill._

_ "What is this place?"_

_ "Home....." the younger Ctarl Ctarl said._

  


The tracker-killer once again opened her eyes. Beneath her and past her reflection, the faint glimmering lights of another city were spread out before her. All around her, she saw order that was created by Craven. Simply out of spite, she wanted to turn all of that order into chaos. Her forehead was resting against the glass wall of the elevator in Craven's office building. The way the Terran executive talked down to her and expected the Tracker-Killer to be at his beck and call infuriated Takana. She was starting to feel like a gutter whore. 

Melfina noticed that her captor seemed to be lost in thought. Takana caught Melfina's reflection in the glass looking at her. 

"Why do you look at me like that, Machine Girl?" she sighed impatiently.

"You don't look well...." the bio-android observed. 

"Is that so?" Takana wearily scoffed. She wondered if her captive had overheard the argument with Craven earlier and was perhaps considering using that to formulate some sort of escape plan. However, when she turned around to try and gauge Melfina's thoughts, the bio-android appeared concerned. Her fear had subsided- the Ctarl Ctarl could no longer smell the scent like blossoms- and Melfina seemed to have resigned herself to the current situation with a certain degree of quiet poise. Takana understood that the bio-android was likely wondering if and when she would next see her mate as well as the baby in her artificial womb. If the situation were reversed.......Takana mused. She should be so fortunate to have the same worries as the Machine Girl- even under these circumstances. Takana turned back around, her forehead once again resting against the glass of the elevator. As frail as Melfina appeared, she still felt uneasy around her. Payday could not come soon enough for the tracker-killer.

  


** 

Over the video-phone, the little mechanic continued telling the Hilda-construct about the Ctarl Ctarl bounty huntress, how she killed Mikey and broke his arm, all while insisting Hilda was still alive- something he was doubtful about until a few minutes prior. Hilda wanted to interrupt him, to let him know he was mistaken. Gene was standing right behind her while Aisha and Suzuka were leaning against the side of the Ehefrau, looking somewhat impatient. They also understood that Hilda wasn't exactly in a hurry to get to her destination. Yet, like it or not, they had a deadline to meet.

"Hilda....How did you manage to survive...?" the diminutive mechanic began to ask, surely wanting to know how his favorite Terran survived her run-in with the Kei pirates and MacDougal bothers. 

"I'm sorry, Swanzo. I'm not really who you think I am." 

"But Hilda....." 

"You're better off forgetting that you ever saw me, believe me." 

With that, Hilda terminated the connection. 

**

  


The Heiphong Narrows Bridge was a nearly-complete structure that spanned a 4.8 km gap over the bay adjacent to the city of Heiphong, linking the main city with the primary deep-sea ports and fishing villages to the south and west of the city. The suspension bridge was part of a massive undertaking by Roberval Metallurgy Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Craven Enterprises Limited. In exchange for a considerable percentage of the 300 Wong toll that would be levied for each vehicle crossing, Ewan Craven himself agreed to use resources at his company's disposal and finish the beleaguered project, taking over from a formidable bureaucracy of municipal authorities. Although it was still a few weeks away from completion, it was set to open ahead of schedule. 

Ewan Craven had dispatched two sedans to the bridge. He rode out with the bulk of his "security detail" in one while Takana, Melfina and Craven's personal petite, dark-haired assistant, Ms. Nguyen, were driven out in another sedan. The Ctarl Ctarl didn't like sitting in the confined spaces of the vehicle with various strange and unpleasant odor of leather mixed in with the scent of every Terran who had been in and out of that vehicle filled the beast-girl's nostrils. She did little to conceal her displeasure. Although the ride to the bridge was fairly short, it passed in a tense silence between the three women. 

As she stepped out of the rear of the sedan, Takana Jaci-Jaci took in a deep breath of fresh salt air. She couldn't help but marvel at the massive span in front of her. These Terrans could take something as utilitarian as a surface spanning over a body of water or a building designed to house several offices and make it appear like some sort of castle or fortress. Initially, she was unfamiliar with her present employer's role in financing the bridge. When she first saw it on the distant urban horizon, she didn't give it much thought. Now that she had seen it up close, Takana had to admit that she was impressed. Yet she had to wonder why Craven had selected this location to exchange Hilda for the Machine Girl. The location of the exchange was entirely at his disposal. Perhaps her present employer was trying to impress Hilda. 

Without even thinking about it, her fingers began unscrewing the small gold capsule she wore around her neck. She didn't really need another hit of the root extract, she just wanted it so badly. Takana suddenly stopped as she felt a pair of eyes on her. It was Melfina. 

"You look as though you have something you want to ask me......" 

Melfina nodded. 

"You want to know why I took you, don't you?" Takana asked Melfina, not even turning around. 

The bio-android remained silent, uncertain of what to say. 

"Hilda wouldn't hesitate to put herself at risk to guarantee your safety. I know that much about her at least. There are very few people she would put herself in such a position for. There's also your mate- I sensed that he would do anything to get you back." the tracker-killer could sense only fear and uncertainty coming from her captive. 

"Um.......why......?" the bio-android began to ask. 

"Hmm?" The bounty-huntress turned around. 

"Why do you do what you're doing?" 

Takana pondered that for a moment. "What do your instincts tell you, Machine Girl? Do you have instincts?" she asked. Takana didn't mean for that last question to sound as mocking as it did. 

Melfina didn't say anything. 

"I'm an outcast with no family." Takana continued with a tangible note of sorrow in her voice. "All the skills I learned as a child- to track my prey by it's scent, to subdue it- were something I discovered certain Terrans were willing to pay handsomely for. I don't enjoy working for Craven's kind, but it's a far more attractive choice than selling my body to strangers or starving to death". 

"I'm sorry......" the bio-android started to say. 

"I don't need your pity, Machine Girl. I've survived this long without it." Takana sneered. 

But there was more to Melfina's sentiment than pity. The bio-android also felt some sort of haunting familiarity. Before her, she saw a creature who was essentially being used as a marionette. Hazanko and Gwen Khan both said that Melfina's sole purpose was as a puppet to guide the XGP and open up the Leiline. Perhaps the worst part for Melfina was that she knew that was at least partly true. Yet- wether it was genetic or some sort of artificial intelligence- Melfina knew that she was also capable of free will and drawing her own conclusions. The past year or so with Gene and the others left no doubt about that. Yet when she looked at Takana, she saw a creature capable of free will only allow herself to be used by others like a puppet. Part of her wanted to tell Takana about that, but she knew enough that it could only further agitate her captor. The tracker-killer looked up and their eyes locked. It was as thought the Tracker-Killer could sense Melfina's thoughts. Takana could've sworn she'd seen those eyes before. 

"I'm not interested in harming you or your child- you'll have to consider this simply a means to an end." Takana continued. To Melfina, it almost sounded like the Ctarl Ctarl was trying to reassure her. "If I don't do this, there are others who will. Others with no concern for your life or the life of your future child." 

"But isn't there......." Melfina started to ask.

"_Leave me be!_" Takana hissed. "I'll get my money and you'll get to go back with your mate- isn't that what you want?"

Mel simply looked at her as the Tracker-Killer began to walk off in disgust. However, before she could get too far, Ms. Nguyen caught up with her. 

"All I can say is don't get too comfortable in a burning building." Craven's assistant discreetly whispered to the Ctarl Ctarl.

"Why do you say that?" 

"Chances are she already knows too much." the petite woman gestured towards Melfina. 

"Knows about what?" Takana asked. 

Ms. Nguyen rolled her eyes. The beast in front of her wasn't simply playing dense. "I suspect she's aware that Mr. Craven sent you." 

".....and what of it?" 

"The less people who know about him hiring you, the better...." 

"Does this include myself?" 

"He trusts you to be discreet, but the hostage will have to be dealt with." 

"Deal with her on your own time." Takana spat at Craven's assistant. "I was employed to bring in Hilda, and that's exactly what I'll do." The beast-girl's ears began twitching.

Ms. Nguyen was about to say something when Takana cut her off.

"Look sharp- our guests are arriving." she announced to Craven and his security detail.

  


** 

The tollbooths were set up on a fairly narrow strip of land reclaimed from the harbor on the Western approach to the Heiphong Narrows bridge. Jim's Ehefrau was parked with it's lights and engine off adjacent to the row of new structures. Two of the vehicle's occupants were closely watching the span ahead of them. Both of them could discern some sort of activity taking place on the section of bridge that curved off into the distance.

"How many do you count, Suzu?" Aisha asked the assassin next to her.

Twilight Suzuka paid no attention to the Ctarl Ctarl's nickname that frequently irked her.

"At least eight, not including Melfina and our unwelcome visitor." Suzuka said as she lowered the night-vision binoculars. "There could be more inside the vehicles parked on the bridge." 

Although Aisha's vision was excellent, it was almost impossible for her to pick up details from that distance- only vague outlines and shapes. Aside from borrowing the Ehefrau from Jim, the others had taken it upon themselves to bring some of his night-vision optics with them.

"Do you figure Gene and Hilda have enough of a head-start?" Aisha asked.

"Give them another minute". Suzuka figured that having all four of them show up at once would tip their hand entirely too early. Yet they would be of no use to Gene, Mel or Hilda remaining at this distance. Their adversaries were very shrewd in selecting the location of the exchange. Except.......

Except she had the feeling that Mel's captors had no intention of letting them just walk away. Despite the beast-woman's assurances, the whole setup was very dubious. Which was all the more reason for her and Aisha to accompany Gene and Hilda. The two Outlaw's had started walking down the bridge five minutes prior. The assassin could only imagine what was going through their minds at this moment. In all honesty, Suzuka was feeling a bit apprehensive herself.

Her train of thought was interrupted as Aisha gently tugged on the sleeve of her kimono. She appeared ready to go, but instead quietly pointed her to something on their side of the bridge.

  


**

To say that it was a long walk across the span was something of an understatement. For the time-being, it was just Hilda and Gene. The dark-haired outlaw felt a little like a bride on her way to some sort of black celebration. Gene would be the one giving her away to Craven and Takana in exchange for a dowry that consisted of a dark haired bio-android. One construct for another. The dark-haired outlaw felt compelled to bite her tongue as she considered that analogy. As they made their way across, Hilda was keeping an eye out for things she may be able to use for cover if and when all hell broke loose. On their left, she noticed two unattended trucks, one of them laden with construction equipment. Before the two of them could proceed much further, Hilda and Gene were momentarily blinded by headlights from Craven's sedans. As their eyes adjusted, they could make out several figures silhouetted against the lights. Most ominously, the one closest to them was that of a tall Ctarl Ctarl woman. Immediately behind Takana was Melfina, Ewan Craven, his personal assistant and about half a dozen of his bodyguards. 

"So glad you decided to come." Takana said to the two Outlaws. As she stepped closer, Gene and Hilda could see that her face was considerably darker than before. The Ctarl Ctarl was wearing some sort of dark warpaint that was applied onto her face and body in horizontal stripes, almost like a tiger. 

"Who the hell is that?" Craven asked Takana, pointing to Gene. 

"Nobody of consequence." she smirked. "So glad to see you're still with us, Captain Gene." 

"You didn't tell her to come alone?" 

The tracker-killer scoffed as she slowly and deliberately circled Hilda before turning back to Craven. "Don't insult my intelligence. She was no more likely to show up alone than you were..." 

The CEO did his best to ignore that slight from the Ctarl bounty huntress. "Miss Nguyen- search them." 

The petite Asian woman briskly made her way over to where Hilda was standing.

"Any chance you're going to tell me where my collection went?" Craven asked Hilda.

"I dunno...is there any chance you'll take a flying leap off this bridge?" she replied.

"You're in no position to be so flippant........"

"Still the Devil's advocate, I see." Hilda said to Craven's dark haired assistant as she began patting the outlaw down. Ms. Nguyen was satisfied that Hilda was carrying no weapons and turned to address her.

"I wouldn't be the one questioning anybody else's career move......" She turned to Gene. "Go ahead and raise both hands..."

"As much as I'd like to have you running your hands all over me, lady, I'm spoken for." Gene said to Craven's assistant with a cocky grin as he opened his cloak and revealed the holstered caster, some #17 and #11 shells in his belt, two regular pistols, a dagger and several clips of ammunition. "Besides- it's not necessary. I have these." 

Takana was watching this unfold with a somewhat bemused expression on her face.

"That wasn't very smart." one of the guards bean to say.

"I'm sure you're being paid to offer opinions, bright boy." Gene shot back. "Not very smart is showing up alone and unarmed, hoping that you people will give us back Melfina out of the goodness of your hearts. First and foremost, we came here for Melfina. And if you wanted just Hilda to show up by her lonesome, tough shit. Somebody has to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain. Besides, Catgirl there didn't specify that Hilda shows up alone _or_ unarmed." He jerked his thumb in Takana's direction.

"That's because for all your bravado, you're still no threat to me, Captain Gene. You can't even protect your mate- how pathetic! I can't understand why she'd want to come back to you if you can't even prevent me from taking her away." she scoffed. 

The dapper executive, however, turned his attention to Hilda. "Knowing you the way I do Hilda, I'm sure you have something cute in mind....." Craven said. "But if I find out that card's been tampered with in any way......" He paused and looked at Gene, then Melfina. "Well, let's just say that your friends can't hide from me forever." 

"I wouldn't dream of it." Hilda said. "First thing's first. You let her go." she pointed to Melfina. 

"You're in no position to dictate....." the executive started to say. 

"Don't tell me what I'm in a position to do!" Hilda snapped back. She was walking towards the far railing of the bridge with nobody blocking her way. "How good are your men at deep-sea diving? Because that's the only way they'll be able to look for this if you don't let her go, and I mean _RIGHT NOW_." 

"Better honor that request- she looks angry, and I'm sure you're aware that Hilda has a quick temper and can be quite irrational." Takana said, now blocking Hilda's path. "The Machine Girl and Captain Gene are of no importance. You were kind enough to show up, Hilda, which means I get my pay regardless." 

"Love that piercing...." Hilda commented smugly, pointing to the piece of Takana's ear she shot off. "Where'd you get it done, and would you be interested in a matched set?" 

"_SHUT UP_!" Takana snapped as she suddenly buried her fist into Hilda's abdomen. The Outlaw was very much caught off guard by this and nearly collapsed to her knees. The tracker-killer was standing over her with a look of supreme satisfaction on her face. Behind her, Gene had tensed up, but he was trying to avoid doing anything that would put Melfina in greater jeopardy. 

"That's enough!" Craven spoke up. 

"Of course...." Takana said as she grabbed Hilda by the shoulders while she was still doubled over. The Ctarl Ctarl gently stroked Hilda's cheek as she helped her stand up straight. "I promised that I would hand you over to the Terran first, but I'll be looking forward to our time together, Hilda. You tried burning me alive, and you _*will* _pay for that." 

"You killed Mikey, you fucking whore!" Hilda spat back. 

"Mikey?" Takana asked, a perplexed look on her face. "Ah yes! I remember him now. His blood tasted a little funny. Perhaps he had some sort of venereal disease. Did the little toad in the metal suit come crying to you?" Takana smirked. 

"Burning you alive will be just the beginning for you..." Hilda seethed. 

"What was that? Did you just threaten me?" 

Hilda said nothing as she looked the tracker-killer over. There it was again- that defiant gleam in her eyes. It clearly told Takana that she wasn't scared in the least. The tracker-killer was frustrated at seeing this, but maintained her composure. This Terran clearly had something planned, but Takana couldn't figure out what. Just as she was about to help herself to another hit of root from the locket, a small breeze kicked up and Takana caught a scent. For a moment, just as she was able to smell Melfina's fear, Takana thought she could actually smell Hilda plotting against her and Craven. But it was something else. Her heart sank a little when she recognized the scent from when she was being kicked and pummeled in the alley the other night. Perhaps if she hadn't spent all that time in the car, it wouldn't have taken this long for her senses to readjust. The scent she was picking up had to be Aisha, and it wasn't a residual scent on Hilda or Gene's clothing. It was fairly distant, but fresh. There was another, less recognizable scent. She was sure that the ex-ambassador and Terran swordswoman were nearby. 

"We have more guests arriving." she informed Craven. 

"I'm not surprised.....Can you tell me where?" the CEO asked. 

Almost as if on cue, a single gunshot rang out from one of the bridge's towers. 

  


_Author's Note: First of all, I'd like to apologize for the people who have been reading and enjoying this fic for being such a rotten, lazy bastard and taking so long to update. I do have many, MANY other activities in my life outside of writing fanfics, and I haven't been able to juggle my schedule accordingly until fairly recently. Guess I should take this opportunity to thank A. Amishi among others for nagging me about updating, as well as everybody who took the time to submit a review. It's finally updated, and I'll try to add the next chapter much sooner._


	9. No Way to Treat a Lady

_Disclaimer: Here's a little something for you trivia buffs! Did you know that debt is an asset? Did you know that it's one of MY assets? However, Outlaw Star is NOT one of my assets. Go figure. That's all __Sunrise__, baby. Also, while I'm on the topic of stuff that isn't mine or I can't take credit for, I'm pretty sure that the Seburo line of firearms is the brainchild of Masamune Shirow. Just thought I'd throw them in there because the specs look pretty cool and futuristic (as do the dames clutching them in Shirow's artwork) and firearms are still being used in the Outlaw Star universe. Believe me, this isn't an attempt at an Outlaw Star/Ghost in the Shell or Outlaw Star/Appleseed crossover on my part._

Unbeknownst to them, Gene and Hilda were being watched through the magnified crosshairs of an SVD sniper rifle the instant they approached Craven and his men. Through the green tint of the rifle's night vision scope, a tiny red dot was fixed on the back of Gene's head. This was how Craven had planned on dealing with any unexpected company Hilda might have with her. From his perch on the suspension bridge's tower, all the sniper had to do was wait for the green light from the Craven's security detail to pick off Hilda's unwelcome companion and his job for the evening would be done. For the time being, nothing more than harsh words were being exchanged between Craven, the Ctarl Ctarl and the two Outlaws. Still, judging from her reputation, the gunman figured this sort of behavior was unusually sloppy for Hilda.__

As he pondered this and waited for the signal to take the shot, he heard a slight scraping sound coming from behind him. He turned his head to see a Ctarl Ctarl standing over him. It was a female, but it couldn't have been the one his boss hired. He had just seen the Tracker-Killer a second ago in the periphery of the rifle's optics. If possible, this one looked even more pissed off.

The gunman attempted to squeeze off a shot as he tried standing up, but wasn't quite on his feet when Aisha grabbed the rifle by the barrel and firmly pushed it away from her face. A single 7.62mm bullet shot out of the barrel of the gun and tore through the night sky, landing harmlessly somewhere in Heiphong Bay instead of piercing the cranium of any of the Outlaws. As Aisha none-too-gently ripped the rifle from the sniper's hands, she saw him unsheathe a hunting knife along his belt. His first and only slash missed. Even if it did connect, it really wouldn't have done much damage to Aisha. 

  


**_**I don't have time for this!**_ she thought as she stepped forward and harshly elbowed Craven's sniper. He staggered a few steps backwards, seeing stars before he realized that he was completely out of surface and stumbled off the edge, plunging into the bay. It didn't occur to him to scream until he was well out of earshot of everyone.**

Aisha looked thoughtfully at the weapon she was holding onto by the barrel for a moment before she casually tossed it away.

**

The sniper's rifle fell to one side of the tower while the gunman himself plummeted into the distant waters below. The streetlight along the road picked up the rifle falling to the bridge's surface, the impact jarring the barrel and night scope loose from the frame.

This significance of this wasn't lost on Takana. 

"Crow's nest, come in! I repeat, crow's nest....." Craven's head of security began to yell through a headset.

"Save your breath!" she said to the businessman's underling. Takana turned to their employer "Looks like your man on the tower is dead. Would you like me to take care of this?" she sweetly cooed to Craven.

_"**Yes! Go make yourself useful!"**_ Craven barked at the Tracker-Killer.

"It'll cost you....." Takana playfully cautioned in a gleeful, sing-song voice.

"**_I don't care! Do it!_"**

"I'm thinking 10 million Wong, some additional real estate holdings on Planet Tenrei and a supply of raw ingredients for me direct from the Empire....." she said as she casually backed away from Craven, Melfina and Ms. Nguyen, a twisted smile on her face. Hilda and Gene could see that the beast-girl was now having a tremendous amount of fun at her employer's expense.

There was a tense silence as Takana departed. Craven's men weren't sure what to make of this latest development, which gave the Outlawsa slight, temporary advantage.

"Now, if you don't mind...." Hilda said, gesturing towards where Melfina was standing. The dark-haired outlaw looked to her right. No sooner had she said that then Mel was now wrapped up protectively in Gene's arms.

**

Aisha didn't descend from the tower right away, since she preferred the vantage point that position offered. The ex-ambassador was still a little winded from her sprint out to the center of the bridge and hasty climb up the tower. As she caught her breath, Aisha decided that she should begin climbing down once Suzuka made her presence known. The cat-girl rested on her haunches as she quietly assessed the situation beneath her. For the moment, it didn't appear as though Gene or Hilda were in any imminent danger, and she couldn't detect any more of Craven's snipers in hiding. Not to mention, there didn't appear to be any more locations to position the snipers. Beneath her, standing opposite from Gene and Hilda had to be the executive Craven, accompanied by a petite woman and several men in suits. It dawned on Aisha she that the C'tarl C'tarl with the pariah's marking was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she found Aisha. From her perch, Aisha heard a voice coming from behind her.

  


"I thought that uniform looked familiar." Takana sneered at Aisha with unmatched contempt. "You're just another self‑righteous little sycophant for the Empire. I've come across enough like you." 

Aisha was genuinely startled. "How did you get up here?" she snarled. 

The tracker‑killer lightly ran her finger over the grey warpaint applied to her face. "A little something I prepared to mask my scent." she locked Aisha in her gaze. "This? It's an old family recipe. I wanted you to see the face of your executioner. I think it's only fair I return the favor‑ after all, you Nobles have been exploiting my clan for generations." 

The ex‑ambassador was no longer paying any mind to the events unfolding a hundred feet below her. Takana Jaci‑Jaci now had her undivided attention as Aisha got to her feet. "Big talk from somebody who's been hiding behind a hostage. That's not very creative...." 

"I'll admit that tactic is entirely too passive for my tastes, yet you can't question its effectiveness. After all, Hilda's here- and that was what I was paid to do. What's more, you're here." Takana said. "However I see no reason why I should explain myself to the likes of you. If the noise of the sea and the wind can conceal my approach, perhaps you don't deserve the title of immortal C'tarl C'tarl." 

Aisha was concerned. She was aware that there was little room to maneuver on top of the tower, so any misstep on her part could have dire consequences. The Tracker-Killer was clearly doing her best to bait her. To get back down, she also knew that she had to go through Takana. It wasn't impossible, but the Tracker-Killer certainly wouldn't make it easy for her. And as long as she was occupied with Takana up there Aisha would be of no use to Gene, Mel, Suzu or Hilda. She suspected that was the reason behind Takana climbing up to confront her. 

"I'm sure the swordswoman will show herself soon. I might as well let her have a little fun with the Terran's thugs before I deal with her. As for you.." Takana continued "....I won't be holding back this time, little girl." 

"Hmmph! Me neither." Aisha shot back without hesitation. 

** 

Jim woke up on the sofa and found a blanket draped over him. One second, he was being held by Aisha and the next thing he remembered was....well....waking up on the sofa with a sore throbbing neck. He grimaced as he ran his hand over the sore spot. It slowly dawned on him that Aisha did this. 

Not only did Aisha do this, but the Ehefrau was now gone along with some of his optical equipment. It was entirely too quiet‑ he realized he had the place all to himself. The others must have left without him. Still, there had to be _some_ way to catch up to them. 

"Assault and grand theft auto." he grumbled to nobody in particular. "You're ***_really_* pushing your luck, Aisha." **

As he was about to leave, he noticed a manila envelope with **STARWIND & HAWKING** written in big block letters on the table. The boy opened the top and carefully slid out the envelope's contents onto the table. Inside was a sheet of handwritten paper with the same block script as the envelope along with the plastic key-card Hilda got from the old satellite along the racecourse. 

  


Jim's heart sank as he hurriedly read through the handwritten letter signed by Hilda. It amounted to a suicide note. This was Farfallas all over again, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

** 

 The sniper was taken care of, although Hilda wasn't sure if it Aisha or Suzuka who had done that. The outlaw failed to notice the sniper on her arrival, but wasn't the least bit surprised that Craven had employed one. Fortunately somebody else was able to notice before he could pull the trigger. Having Aisha and Suzuka as an extra pair of eyes and ears was already paying dividends. 

As for her so-called 'plan', the outlaw still had her doubts. But if there was a good time to set it in motion, this would be it. Nobody else- least of all Gene- knew what exactly she had in mind once she and Gene arrived up at the bridge. Hilda hoped what she was about to do wouldn't go to Gene's head. She steeled herself- she wasn't going to enjoy this…

Hilda approached Mel, who was still clad in her white blouse and black skirt. Mel looked at her with a great deal of uncertainty in her eyes.

"_YOU LITTLE BITCH! YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW…?" Hilda suddenly yelled at Melfina._

The bio-android cringed slightly, not expecting such an outburst from one of her rescuers.

"Hilda…I'm sorry…." The bio-android began to say. Her words were cut off by a loud **_*crack*_ as Hilda delivered a harsh, open-handed slap to Mel. Some of Craven's men seemed amused by this exchange. Gene, however, looked confused and then furious. **

Before Mel could even rub the red welt on her cheek, Hilda grabbed her by the shoulders and roughly shoved her backwards. The bio-android took a few steps backwards before she stumbled and fell. Hilda did her best to ignore the hurt expression on Mel's face.

"What the hell are you doing, Hilda?" Gene asked angrily.

"Oh Gene!" she suddenly cried out as she threw her arms around him before he could take another step closer to Mel. "This can't be happening- I don't want to die! Don't do this to me...."

"What!?" the red-haired outlaw was pretty sure his jaw was slack.

"Can't we just leave Melfina behind? She's nothing! Just you and me....I can make you forget her.....I promise you." she said as her lips moved in closer to his. "You know you want to...". Right in full view of Melfina, Hilda began to passionately kiss Gene.

"What are you....?" he began to ask as he tried to break away. However, the words were cut off as Hilda's lips once again found his.

To call Gene's situation awkward would be something of a gross understatement. Hilda's free hand began gingerly roving along his waistline until she found what she was looking for. Gene couldn't help but tense a little as the dark‑haired Outlaw's hand cautiously wrapped around something firm and solid‑ the foregrip of Gene's Caster. 

"Hold....very...still....Cherry....." Hilda said softly as her finger tensed around the weapon's trigger. "And get ready to get Melfina out of here." 

There was an audible **_*click*_ as Hilda pulled the Caster's trigger. For an instant, there was a bright blue glow surrounding them, almost like the light from a welder's torch. Unfortunately for the two outlaws, one of Craven's guards was alert enough to spot this and had some idea what it meant. Time seemed to stand still as the back of Gene's cloak nearly exploded. A luminous blue sphere emerged and streaked towards Craven, his guards and his petite assistant. The #19 shell from Gene's caster hit the engine block of one of Craven's sedans. Ms. Nguyen was alert enough to activate her light-shield, protecting herself and her boss from the resulting explosion. Hilda didn't get a good look, but it also appeared that most of Craven's bodyguards were able to take cover or activate light shields in time.**

The recoil from the Caster was considerable and the two outlaws were caught off guard, landing in a heap with Gene squarely on top of Hilda before the gust of air from the blast passed over them. While on the ground, it suddenly occurred to Gene that Hilda had roughly shoved Mel like that to put her even further away from the blast site.

"Gene‑ I'm flattered. I thought you were spoken for, but maybe if Mel is into threesomes....." Hilda grinned wryly. 

"Let me guess: Not now, you have a headache." Gene took in his surroundings, somewhat surprised he was still alive. "Is this all part of your brilliant plan?" 

"You mean using you as a human shield? Not much of a plan, but at least I got Craven and his boys in one spot....." she admitted.

"What would you have done if it was a dud?" 

  


"Guess we wouldn't be having this conversation‑ now take Mel and get the hell out of here." 

"What about….?" He started to ask.

"Do it!" the levity from a moment ago was gone from Hilda's voice. 

He needed no further prompting. Gene was on his feet and sprinting towards Mel like an Olympic track star.

**

_Ionah__._

_There was no literal translation for this Ctarl Ctarl word to any of the Terran languages. The word originally meant something to the effect of "borderline feral" but over time was also applied to the various criminals, swindlers, thieves, poachers, murderers and those who fell out of favor for the empire for whatever reason. _

_The tracker-killer Takana Jaci Jaci was an ionah from the day she was born, a result of the adulterous union between her mother and father. She, along with other countless Ctarl Ctarl guilty of transgressions real or perceived were exiled to a remote colony. In her 17th year, a devastating epidemic called the Crimson Plague wiped out much of the colony's population, including her father. This left the young Ionah woman without any family, forcing her to leave her home in the wilderness for the first time ever. Shortly after her arrival, she took shelter in an abandoned mill with a young beggar she met in the city._

_Yet, Takana couldn't get to sleep that night. She was weary, but she lay wide awake pondering her uncertain future. Next to her, the child Sarris was in for a fitful sleep. She felt that he was her responsibility now, but she was unsure what she could do for him._

_The weary cat-girl decided that if she couldn't sleep, she should at least get up and stretch her legs.  As she stood and was about to leave, a small hand reached out and tugged at the hem of her dress. _

_            "MOTHER!? PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME......" Sarris pleaded. Takana froze in her tracks. It took her a moment to understand that the boy was having a nightmare, but his words cut her to the bone. Had she cried out in her sleep for her Poppa like that while she journeyed alone to the city? _

_            "Mother....please....just keep breathing. Father and Itami are gone now...I can't lose you now. Please stay a little longer......" _

_            It was clear that her young host was having a bad dream. She gently took his hand in her own. **The poor child; even in his dreams all he can see is death and suffering the Tracker-Killer pondered as she sat down next to him. **_

_            He suddenly sat upright, wide awake and his breathing ragged. _

_            "I woke you up, didn't I?" the child said apologetically. _

_            "It's all right…." Takana reassured him. She was still gently clasping his hand with her own._

_"You have a good heart, Takana." _

_The Tracker‑Killer blinked in surprise. "Really?" she asked. "Why do you say that?" _

_"Earlier, I thought I was dead. Anybody else would've walked away. There's been so many dead already, what's one less mouth to feed?" the young boy sounded bitter. "I don't blame them. I might've done the same thing if I was in their position. But you intervened and asked for nothing in return. You put yourself in harm's way for a starving rodent." _

_"Hush....don't talk like that. You're not a rodent." she said a little sternly "You are Sarris Taarn Taarn." _

_            Perhaps Takana's suddenly authoritarian tone reminded the boy of his mother or sister. The boy looked up at her with a perplexed expression on his face. _

_"I'm nearly twice your age, yet I didn't know my namesake was an arch‑seraphim from the Text of Ctarl until you told me. No mere rodent could enlighten me like that." _

_"I'm glad I was able to do that, but how will that help either one of us eat?" he asked. _

_"You can worry about that when you get healthy." _

_"But...." the boy said, painfully aware of his condition. _

_"Shhhh..." she interrupted "I want you to promise me something." _

_"What's that?" _

_  
_

_"Once your health returns, promise me that you won't steal anymore. I enjoy your company, Sarris, but you make for a terrible thief". She wasn't so much concerned about the boy spending his effort plying a dishonest trade as she was the consequences behind him getting caught. _

_"I promise, Takana." _

_"Good, now try and get some sleep. You need your rest." _

_"OK…"_

_She gently squeezed his hand. "Pleasant dreams…"_

_The boy rolled over. Takana was feeling restless and was still having a difficult time getting to sleep herself. Above them was one full and one crescent moon. A wide beam of platinum light spilled through the window. _

_She looked up at the dual moons. "Oh poppa.....was I this difficult?" she asked softly. At the sound of her voice, Sarris stirred slightly. Takana gently stroked the boy's ear as he continued his listless slumber. She didn't understand why, but the helplessness, despair and seething rage that nearly consumed her each day of aimless wandering since Aryo's death somehow abated in the presence of the dark‑haired child next to her. As Aryo's only daughter, she was unfamiliar with the trials and tribulations of a younger sibling. Yet, she felt her father was somehow able to manipulate circumstance from the Land of the Dead, arranging it _

_so__ that she would meet somebody who needed her. _

_On the one hand, it felt so very awkward. Takana knew that she wasn't that far removed from childhood herself and was filled with uncertainty about what she should do next. But there was something undeniably gratifying about the look of absolute joy on Sarris' face and the way he looked up at her. She remembered one of the officers sneering "The two of them belong together." to her earlier that day. It was meant to be an insult. Yet the more Takana contemplated it, the more it sounded like high praise. _

_"Was I this rewarding?" she murmured as she finally drifted off to sleep herself. Through the night, a bright shaft of silvery light shone through the window and onto the two orphaned Ctarl Ctarl. _

_The following morning, Takana rose early, hoping she wouldn't disturb Sarris. The boy had shown her a place to sleep free of charge and Takana figured the least she could do for him was find some work so she could bring back some food for the two of them. That morning, she headed down to the spaceport, figuring there would be some vessels there looking for work. However, there was a slight problem. There certainly wasn't any shortage of available workers in the local labor pool, so the number of available jobs was quite limited. As if to prove this point, there was a long line of Ctarl men lined up alongside one ship in the spaceport. They were hoping to get wages as day-laborers, loading or unloading the Terran vessel berthed there._

_The young woman was a little curious. She had never seen a Terran in person before. But she also figured that her job prospects weren't too good if this was the only vessel in the spaceport that was looking for workers. Takana was about ready to take her leave when she overheard a heated exchange._

_"Where's Collins?" the Terran ship captain asked. _

_"It appears he jumped ship, sir...." the Terran's first officer reported. _

_"God damn him!!!" The captain grunted. _

_"We don't need him‑ we have sufficient manpower to‑" _

_"I DON'T CARE!" the Human captain bellowed. "An example needs to be made. If we let Collins get away with deserting, then what's to stop the others from leaving at the next port we pull into? Find him!" _

_"But sir...." the first officer meekly started to say. _

_  
_

_"FIND HIM!" _

_Takana__ smiled as she listened to this exchange. These Terrans certainly were odd creatures, she thought to herself. They appeared to be roughly the same size and build as most C'tarl C'tarl, but they looked like hairless monkeys. Against her better judgment, she approached the captain and first officer. _

_            "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." she said unapologetically as she walked up to the two and her ears twitched. Truth be told, the way the captain was carrying on, odds were pretty good that the whole spaceport could hear the conversation. The two humans looked at the young Ctarl Ctarl woman as she approached, not quite sure what to make of her. "I believe I can find you this Collins, for a price." _

_"I'm not sure that's such a good....." the first officer started to say. _

_"Deal!" the captain said without much hesitation "we'll discuss payment **after you bring him to me." **_

_"Very well‑ however I'll need something with his scent and some idea of how long he's been missing." Takana declared. _

_"Malone, bring this young lady something from Collins' foot‑locker." the captain said to his first officer, pleased that the young woman wasn't asking him for a down payment._

_"Aye, sir." the first officer said as he scampered off. _

_"He was present for this afternoon's head‑count, but we didn't notice he was missing until our pre-departure roll call, so it couldn't have been more than four hours." The captain produced a small PDA with a digital image of the missing crewman. "This is from his personnel file." He explained. _

_Takana__ nodded. "Is there any reason he jumped ship here?" _

_"Women.__ From what I heard, Collins couldn't go five minutes without going on about how wonderful the Ctarl Ctarl girls are, although I imagine he could only rent them by the hour." _

_The tracker‑killer glared at the captain as the last statement sunk in. She didn't like what he was implying, but would let that remark slide until after she was paid. Nor did she let on that the captain had just narrowed her search considerably with that comment. After a few moments, Malone returned with an old shirt belonging to Collins. After one whiff of the Terran garment, Takana understood the captain's comment about renting women by the hour. This Terran had a rather unpleasant scent to begin with and the shirt reeked of sweat and chemicals. Nobody in their right mind would get close to such an odd‑smelling creature unless they were offered some sort of financial incentive. _

_Once the Crimson Plague abated, this remote portion of C'tarl C'tarl space started to gain popularity with philandering nobles from the Empire's homeworld who sought multiple, young submissive concubines. It seemed the plague had spared considerably more women than men. This wasn't lost on many of the Terran ship crew who were transiting through this corner of the empire.  Taking advantage of the sudden population imbalance, places like the Emerald Den sprang up and began doing a brisk trade. Apparently, the way the Emerald Den worked was customers would pay a flat fee to enter and have their choice of multiple girls for a certain amount of time. And for that duration, the girls were obligated to do anything the customer desired, no matter how perverse or humiliating. The Emerald Den's management saw to that._

_  
_

_The Emerald Den was an off-world enterprise from the Empire's homeworld that would recruit the destitute and newly-widowed or orphaned women of the 38th Ctarl Colony by offering them some sort of high-paying clerical or administrative position. They never concealed the fact that they were a brothel, but reassured the new applicants that they wouldn't be doing **that** kind of work. Most of the girls were glad to be getting some sort of work to feed themselves or surviving members of their clan. But shortly after they'd collect their first week's wages, they would be informed that they were being let go for some reason or another. Sometimes she was told that a more eager applicant was willing to take the same job for a lower salary. In many instances, money would be planted on the hapless girl and she'd be accused of stealing from her employers. Yet… she could keep her job if she was willing to do those things with the esteemed clientele she was told she wouldn't have to do when she was first hired. And it was in front of the Emerald Den that Takana was able to pick up a residual scent of the Terran who jumped ship._

_She walked past a somewhat portly and rather bored-looking watchman before she stood in front of a mahogany desk._

_"Welcome to the Emerald Den. I'm Niyaa and I will be pleased to serve......you...." the hostess began to trail off once she looked up and saw that she was talking to another C'tarl C'tarl woman. The look on Niyaa's face seemed to say **Get out while you have the chance!**_

_"We have no job vacancies now. I'll have to ask you to leave." the watchman said as he got up and firmly placed his hand on Takana's shoulder. She figured she would give him five seconds to remove his hand from her. However, he didn't oblige…_

_"Did you hear me, girl?" the watchman said as he tried spinning Takana around to face him. However, she simply grabbed his arm and began twisting as she turned around on her own accord. His five seconds were up. The watchman was caught off guard by this and yelled out in pain._

_"What are you doing!?" he grimaced as he tried in vain to break free. "I demand that you…" he never had a chance to finish his sentence as Takana slammed the heel of her palm into the watchman's nose._

_He cried out as he staggered backwards and fell over. The young tracker-killer contemptuously eyed him. Although he was still conscious, it was apparent that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon._

_She turned around to face the attendant and produced a printout of Collins' picture the Terran ship captain provided her with. After seeing what happened to the watchman, Niyaa decided it was best to cooperate with this visitor before her._

_"I'm looking for this person…" Takana said calmly to the attendant. _

_"He….he….he's in room 303."__ The attendant stammered._

_The tracker-killer simply nodded before climbing the stairs. There was no absolutely no way for Takana to brace herself for what she was about to see when she walked into the room Collins was occupying._

_She slowly, cautiously opened the door. Naked and on all fours was a C'tarl girl with reddish hair a few years younger than Takana. A pair of boots was resting squarely on the small of her back. She was being used as a piece of furniture by the Terran Collins, and with one look at her face it was clear the girl she was using every ounce of her self-control to choke back tears of profound fear and humiliation._

_There were two more C'tarl women in the room. One of them had almost white hair and appeared to be twice Takana's age, although time had been fairly kind to her. Next to her was a slightly shorter, younger C'tarl woman with blonde hair who was pouring the Terran some sort of amber drink. Both of them were wearing nothing but small white aprons._

_"You spilled some of my beer. Be a dear and clean it up." The Terran spoke._

_Without a word, the golden-haired one produced a small towel from the apron. As she was about to start wiping it up, her client spoke up again._

_"Uh-uh! Use your tongue this time, darlin'."_

_"Y-yes sir...." she began to say. As she put the towel back in her apron, the Golden haired C'tarl C'tarl reluctantly knelt down on the floor and began lapping up the spilled ale. Mercifully, a veil of her cornsilk hair obscured her activity from Takana's position. "And as for you…." He said as he roughly pulled the tallest one onto his lap._

_****Do your job well, or you'll be joining these three** she thought in a moment of unnatural clarity. It hit her like a bolt out of the clear blue that if she failed in any capacity, this would be her future. Takana had seen enough.**_

_"You're coming with me!" Takana said to the Human who was clearly enjoying himself at the expense of the three C'tarl women in the room with him._

_"Aren't you a fiesty one?" the Terran said as he looked up at his unexpected visitor. "I wonder what the going rate for somebody like you is."_

_"I'm not a plaything for your amusement. Your captain sent me, and you're coming back to the ship. One way or another....."_

_"You're joking, right? There's no way I'm going back…I'm having too much fun! You're welcome to join me, sweetie. I still have another two hours on my tab." the human retorted._

_"Your captain didn't specify whether or not I had to bring you alive…." Takana scowled._

_Upon hearing the young tracker-killer's veiled threat, there was a commotion as Collins shoved the tallest whore off of his lap and stood up to challenge the girl in front of him._

_"Just you try it!" he snarled defiantly as he leveled a .455 S&W revolver at Takana. "I hope you like to play rough…"._

_The young tracker-killer had no idea what he was talking about until Collins pulled the trigger a split-second later. Everything seemed to happen all at once- she was immediately knocked down by the first two rounds as the smell of cordite filled her nostrils. As she lay sprawled on the floor, Takana's ears were ringing from the gunshots in an enclosed area, and there was a throbbing ache in her ribs from the bullets impact. Bullets continued to fly past her head as she collapsed. She had never seen any kind of firearm before. It took her a moment to realize that she was unharmed, save for a few bruises where the rounds struck._

_"Shit!" she heard the human mutter. "What the fuck was her problem?"_

_The Tracker-killer slowly pulled herself up and gingerly got to her feet._

_"You're still alive?" the Terran asked._

_Takana__ briefly looked herself over. ****That was meant to kill me?****_

_"Unfortunately for you, yes." _

_"But…this can't be. I shot you…..point blank….."_

_"Your weapon?__ It makes a lot of noise, but can't harm me….much like you." Takana said as she nonchalantly unfastened her bolo._

_"We'll see about that." Collins snapped as he opened up the revolver's chamber and dumped out the empty cartridges. Before he could continue reloading, the weapon was knocked away from him and went flying across the room. He turned and saw something crash into the wall behind him. It was the bolo belonging to his unwelcome visitor.  _

_As he went to retrieve his gun, Collin's noticed something was amiss. There was something wrapped around the handle of his revolver. He felt a warm trickling before he glanced at his right hand. _

_  
_

_"Oh God......" Collins gasped helplessly as he looked at the stub of his arm. Several feet away from him was his hand, still clutching the empty revolver. He turned around and was now face‑to‑face with Takana. Her bolo had cleanly sheared off his wrist. _

_"He can't help you either." she smiled down at him before slashing open his throat with her talons. His flesh was unexpectedly soft. This made her job so much easier. _

_Takana__ held onto him as he began to spasm and went limp. It was only when he was perfectly still did she notice the others in the room. They clearly were frightened of her. She took two steps to retrieve her bolo._

_"Please....don't hurt me...." the eldest whore suddenly cried. "I have a daughter....."_

_"How can you stand to look at her? Does she even know what her mother does....?" Takana asked. The shock of seeing these women allowing themselves to be used as playthings was still setting in._

_"How can I stand to look at her when her belly is empty and her body is sickly with disease? How can I stand doing nothing for her!?" the whore cried back without hesitation. "You don't know what it's like! My little girl is all I have left in this world! I'll do ANYTHING..........suffer any humiliation, so that she has a future...." she wailed._

_For a moment, Takana thought of the young child that was waiting for her back at the abandoned mill._

_"Is this the future you want for your girl!?" Takana pointed to the cringing young girl who was being used as a footstool by Collins. Upon hearing the sound of gunfire, she curled up into the fetal position in a corner of the room._

_"Do you think we enjoy this?" the Golden haired one asked Takana. "I wouldn't wish this life on anyone!"_

_Takana__ did her best to pay her no mind as she scooped up Collins' body and slung it over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Even though they seemed intimidated by Takana's presence, the young Ionah felt very uneasy. It was as though her willingness to bring this corpse back to the Terran's vessel was the only thing that was preventing Takana from joining the whores; her absolute last chance. _

**

The Ionah and the daughter of Nobility continued glaring at each other on the bridge's tower, each one daring the other to make the first move.

Both Takana's and Aisha's ears twitched as the explosion echoed from down below. Aisha looked behind and beneath her in time to see one of Craven's automobiles enveloped in flames. The tracker‑killer saw her window of opportunity against the smaller, more powerful Ctarl Ctarl, running forward and kicking Aisha in the ribs as she was looking away, followed by a right hook. 

They weren't particularly hard blows, and Aisha was able to partially block them. However, she was close enough to the edge so that they knocked Aisha off balance and the momentum sent her tumbling off of the abutment and plunging towards the road below. Takana watched disapprovingly as the ex‑ambassador managed to reach out and grab onto one of the intact cables and came to a stop about two‑thirds of the way down. She was hoping that Aisha would fall towards the water instead of the road's surface‑ Ctarl Ctarl's weren't famous for their ability to swim in deep water. Instead, she threw the smaller, stronger Ctarl Ctarl into the fray more quickly than she wanted to. 

Almost reluctantly, the bounty huntress unfastened her bolo and began spinning it over her head before releasing it out over the bay. It appeared as though the tracker-killer was simply discarding her weapon as it dipped towards the inky black waters. However, her weapon began arcing back towards the bridge. The bolo sliced through four of the vertical cables, including the one that Aisha was holding onto. Throwing it from the bridge's tower was a calculated risk on Takana's part. Even if she hit her target, there was still the chance it would fall into the water far below and she'd lose the precious heirloom forever. There was always that risk when she used it on a distant target. However, she was a little relieved to see it still had enough momentum to start returning towards her. When thrown properly, the bolo could return to her almost like a boomerang. She wouldn't have used it in such a manner if she thought there was absolutely no chance that it would return or she could retrieve it. And sure enough, she held out her arm as it headed back towards her. The tracker-killer was careful to grab it by the metallic ring instead of the sharp, durable, finely serrated wires.

Takana also noticed that Aisha was able to grab onto one of the intact cables and slide down a little further before losing her grip once again falling the last dozen or so feet to the surface of the roadway. Gravity wouldn't do the job for her- that would've been too convenient. Takana should have known better. She'd have to finish this herself. This was going to be a little harder than she anticipated, but Takana was still confident. 

**

Craven and his security detail were beginning to pick themselves up after the explosion. One bodyguard was standing upright and leveled his submachine gun at Gene and Mel as they fled. Before he could squeeze the trigger, her felt something knock the weapon out of his hands, nearly slicing it in half in the process, and caught a fleeting glimpse of crimson and white before the dull end of Suzuka's bokuto impacted with his temple, fracturing his skull. The beautiful assassin was being somewhat generous tonight. 

While Craven, his men and Takana all had their attention focused on Gene and Hilda, Aisha and Suzuka had begun making their way to the middle of the bridge courtesy of a maintenance walkway that started out on the same level as the roadway across the bridge, but gradually sank beneath the road's surface as the roadway rose and stretched out over the bay. The assassin and Ctarl Ctarl did so with haste. Short, metallic ladder rungs were embedded along the maintenance walkway at intervals of roughly 50 feet to access the roadway. While sprinting out towards the center of the bridge were Hilda, Gene and Mel were gathered, Aisha agreed to climb the tower they had spotted the sniper on while Suzuka would go beyond what they estimated to be the halfway point and come at Craven and his men from behind when she got to the roadway.

  


As Gene and Melfina began making a break for it, Hilda took a calculated risk in order to buy them some precious time. Without even activating her light shield, she stepped directly in front of three of Craven's men as they lined up to open fire on the fleeing bio-android and Outlaw. Hilda nearly forgot she had a light shield.

"Hold your fire!" the head of Craven's security detail barked out to his subordinates. He knew how badly his boss wanted the Outlaw Hilda alive.

As he pondered this, the three men immediately behind him suddenly collapsed, having made acquaintance with the dull end of Suzuka's bokuto. His only indication of Suzuka's approach was a glimpse of a whitish blur. Unbeknownst to them, the assassin's decision to spare them was based on their decision whether or not to open fire on Gene, Hilda or Mel. For the beautiful assassin, this was only slightly more difficult than going up against Fred Luo's bodyguards, only because of their increased numbers.

"That's one of the better suggestions I've heard this evening". The demure assassin said as she abruptly used her wooden sword to knock the submachine gun out of his hands from behind. The weapon almost obligingly landed in front of Hilda undamaged, save for a few barely noticeable scuff marks to the matte finish.

"Seburo 10mm MN23 Submachine gun..." the Outlaw said as she examined the weapon. "How thoughtful. You shouldn't have..." 

"We had a deal, Hilda!"

"Really? I made a deal with your cat-girl. I don't recall making any deals with you, you worthless prick." she said as she casually inspected the weapon before slinging it over her shoulder. Suzuka was now standing next to her. 

Craven looked at the assassin and then Hilda. The two of them were ready to take their leave.

"**_GIVE ME THE KEY, HILDA!_" Craven shouted.**

There was a series of audible **_clack_s as Craven's remaining bodyguards as well as Ms. Nguyen pulled back the bolts on their machine pistols.**

 "I suggest you do as he says." Ms. Nguyen said as she lined up Hilda's head in her weapon's iron sight. "One way or another, we'll be taking that key card, Hilda."

Hilda glared at the executive and his assistant. But she also needed to buy some more time for Gene, Mel and herself to get away.

"Well now- since you put it that way….." Hilda said.

**

Aisha wasn't expecting the cable she was sliding down to be severed. It wasn't a very long fall, but she landed awkwardly. Looking up in time, she saw a small shower of sparks and a figure sliding down one of the intact cables. It didn't register that this was her assailant using her metallic bolo to slide down until she saw the figure push off of the cable and close in with an impossible quickness. Aisha rolled out of the way as Takana's feet impacted with the pavement. A small spider-web of cracks appeared in the road's surface beneath the Tracker-Killer's feet. Takana couldn't help but chuckle as she saw that Aisha was now on her feet and standing before her.

 "Stubborn little girl…." Takana hissed.

With a great deal of satisfaction, she closed in and swiftly dealt Aisha another sweeping kick that the younger ex-ambassador tried blocking. The blow sent her staggering backwards and Takana could see that Aisha was favoring her right leg.

Taking advantage of this, Takana once again found herself unscrewing the pendant around her neck and helping herself to another hit of iaru root.

Aisha struggled to get back onto her feet and lunged at Takana. Even if by only a fraction of a second, Aisha's injury had indeed slowed her down. This allowed the tracker-killer to more easily anticipate the younger C'tarl C'tarl's next move. Takana failed to block a high, sweeping kick from Aisha's good leg that landed solidly above her ribcage and below her shoulder joint. She was fortunate nothing was broken, yet she hardly felt anything because of the root she just ingested. 

The ex-ambassador took another swing at the Tracker-Killer. She effortlessly dodged Aisha's blow, and blocked another one before kicking her soundly in the abdomen. The wind was sucked out of her body as Aisha doubled over and nearly collapsed. 

As the ex-officer was struggling to breathe, she was aware that the tracker-killer was approaching from behind. Aisha felt her head violently jerk back as Takana grabbed her lengthy braid. "Such frivolous ornaments will be the death of you, little girl". The tracker-killer roughly yanked Aisha's braid, pulling Aisha towards her before releasing and striking the former Ambassador in the kidneys. Aisha went down and Takana could see that she was not getting up.

To her surprise, the younger, obstinate cat-girl remained almost perfectly still. She could see that Aisha was still breathing sharply, but remained cautious. This could very well be a ruse similar to what she used the other night in the alley. The tracker-killer knew she should use this opportunity to dispose of the Officer. Yet, she hesitated……           

The tracker-killer's ears twitched as she heard footfalls approaching her location on the bridge's surface. Takana suddenly realized the younger C'tarl C'tarl laying before her would have to wait when she detected the scent of jasmine mixed in with gun oil approaching. It was Captain Gene and the Machine Girl. The two of them did not seem to notice her right away. In fact, each of them had their back to her. Takana knew that she should finish off the Officer first and break her neck or throw her into the bay before moving on to the others, but she didn't anticipate that the others would be this careless. 

**

Gene had roughly grabbed Mel's hand and the two of them began sprinting.

  


"Gene....we can't just leave Hilda behind." Melfina began to protest.

"I know, but we've got to get you out of here." the redhead replied. As he turned to face Melfina, he saw that he had a distant but clear shot at Craven. There was no time to re‑load the Caster. Instead, Gene used his regular pistol. He lined Craven up in his sights and was about to pull the trigger when he felt someone knock it out of his hands. The pistol clattered to the ground and spun away from him. As he turned around, he saw the beast-girl slash at his face with one of her knives. The outlaw was barely able to duck away from the tracker-killer's blade and from what seemed like a million miles away, Gene thought he heard Melfina call out his name. The tracker-killer was trying to slash his eyes.

"**_NO! YOU DON'T TOUCH HIM UNTIL TAKANA'S PAYDAY_!!" the furious Ctarl Ctarl shrieked at him.**

Gene was able to block her arm as she tried bringing the blade back for another stab at his eyes. Before she could bring the talons on her free hand up to claw the red-haired outlaw, Gene punched her in the face.

The C'tarl C'tarl let out a surprised cry as she stepped backwards. However, Gene wasn't finished. With Mel's abduction fresh in his mind, the Outlaw struck the Tracker-Killer four more times; Takana staggering backwards as each blow connected. She held her arms protectively in front of her face as Gene delivered a swift upper-cut.

For just a moment, Gene thought it was over. A small stream of blood trickled from the beast-woman's lower lip as she brought her arms down.

"My turn…" she seethed quietly, seemingly unfazed by Gene's attack.

 Gene glanced towards where the gun had landed. Before he could take two steps to recover his weapon, Takana tackled Gene and was on top of him. 

"You had your chance."

To emphasize her point, she started slashing and clawing his back as Gene landed on his stomach and struggled to get out from underneath her. Beneath his cloak, he was wearing a kevlar vest to stop any bullets fired center‑mass by Craven's men should his light shield fail. However, the Ctarl Ctarl bounty‑huntress' claws were starting to tear through the vest as thought it were cardboard. 

"How obliging of you to just stand there with your back turned, you stupid Terran...." Takana mocked. "This makes my work considerably easier!"

Gene was too shocked to cry out as Takana began mauling him. He could feel something warm tricking, then gushing down his back. It certainly did hurt, but a soft and almost welcoming darkness was beginning to slip over him. It wasn't an entirely unfamiliar sensation‑ not unlike the one that came over him after being poisoned by the pirate's darts before leaving Sentinel. He did his best to fight if off, but with each slash of Takana's talons it became more difficult. Melfina was what had prevented that darkness from overcoming him then, but now he had lost sight of her.....

There was a loud, sharp **_crack_**. Takana felt something whistle past her ear and ricochet off the guard‑rail of the bridge in a small but brief flurry of sparks. It was a gunshot. The tracker‑killer turned to see Melfina with two rather unsteady hands holding onto the Outlaw's pistol, a tendril of smoke drifting from the barrel. 

"_STOP IT!_"

"Aren't you the brave one?" Takana smiled as she looked at the bio‑android. She looked back to the bleeding Outlaw beneath her before getting up. "You're so very scared, yet you'd kill for him, wouldn't you? That's an admirable trait. I didn't think machines such as yourself had the capacity to kill." 

"Stay away!" Melfina yelled. It meant to sound like a command, but it sounded more like pleading on her part. This was the first time she had raised a weapon against another living creature. She had the means to defend herself, but not the experience. It wasn't the quivering in her voice that gave Melfina away. Takana could once again smell her fear and she found herself drawn to it. 

"Have you ever killed before? There's nothing quite like your first time. Show me how capable you are without that toy." she said as she stood up and turned her attention away from the bleeding Outlaw. Melfina closed her eyes and flinched as she pulled the trigger two more times. Gunshots echoed in the dark night, and then she felt an iron grip around her wrist. She reluctantly opened her eyes and saw Takana's face, inches away from her own. The tracker‑killer was baring her fangs in a malicious grin and the gun was pointing almost straight up in the air. 

  


"No! I....." Melfina started to say. She was going to tell Takana **_I don't want to die.._** but one look at the gleam in her eye and Mel realized that was of no importance to her. Her life was of no consequence to the tracker‑killer anymore. She had outlived her usefulness to Takana. 

"I had every intention of letting you walk away and _THIS _is how you choose to repay me?" she squeezed Melfina's hand and the gun clattered to the pavement. "You're nobody's daughter, just a machine. Maybe I should let you live long enough to tell him...." Takana whispered softly into Mel's ear "....but now I see you don't care if that happens. Should I kill you in front of him or would you rather watch him die first?" 

Melfina tried her best to break free from the tracker‑killer's grip. It looked as though Takana was truly enjoying herself‑ this artificial Terran female was so easily intimidated and her fear produced such a sweet‑smelling pherome that the tracker‑killer found irresistible. 

"If I couldn't leave without Gene, I'm not sure I want to leave. I.....don't want to die....I don't want to kill, either.....I'm not like you.......you know that." Melfina said quietly, yet with clarity and conviction. 

Takana froze as she gazed into Melfina's eyes for the first time. She couldn't believe it. Somehow, those last five words had almost completely sapped Takana of her will to fight. She was sure that she had heard them before. This was so much different than hunting prey on her homeworld. The creatures in the forest couldn't tell her about their past or a future she was ready to deprive them of. Takana momentarily wondered if her mother had to endure anything like this when she was in her womb. 

"Why didn't you leave? You had your chance......I would've let you....." the Tracker Killer asked before trailing off. 

"You don't want to do this either, do you?" 

"**_SHUT UP_!" Takana screeched, resolve creeping back into her. "Who are you to tell me what I want!? I should kill you and your child right here and now!!" she spat furiously. "Don't concern yourself about your mate; he can't protect you, so he'll be joining you soon eno‑*" **

Takana's words were cut off and her grip on the bio‑android loosened. Mel saw a pair of arms deftly slide around Takana's torso and interlock in a vice‑grip behind the tracker‑killer's head. 

"Why don't **_*you*_shut up for a change?!" a familiar voice hissed. It was Aisha; she was up on her feet and now had the taller Ctarl Ctarl in a chokehold. "What did I tell you!?"**

"Wh‑what are you doing? Let me go!" Takana protested as she struggled in vain to break free. Aisha's performance after she fell off of the tower wasn't entirely a ruse. She didn't expect the Tracker-Killer to use her lengthy braid against her, and Aisha was still aching from getting kidney-punched. It really did hurt, but it also made her even angrier.

"I told you that if you dared to strike me, you better not turn your back on me." Aisha reminded her "It's time you got another lesson in humility!". Aisha tightened her grip and dragged the Tracker-Killer around 180 degrees. The tracker‑killer was now facing the Outlaw Gene Starwind. Despite the beating and slashing she had inflicted on him a few moments ago, he was now on one knee and fumbling for the Caster. In his hand was a #11 shell that he plucked from his belt. 

  


As Takana continued struggling, Aisha turned around and glanced at Mel. The look in her eyes said it all; there were a number of reasons the bio‑android should make herself scarce; Takana could still break free and kill Mel, both Aisha and Takana might wind up in their beast forms and run amok, Craven might send in some reinforcements to cut off their retreat. Mel got the hint and reluctantly started to back away. Aisha turned back and devoted her energy to keeping the thrashing Ctarl Ctarl under control. 

"Hurry up Gene! I don't have all night!" Aisha yelled at him, largely unaware of the condition he was in thanks to Takana. 

The red‑haired outlaw finally held the loaded Caster before painstakingly raising it and pulling the trigger. There was a blue glow emanating from the barrel as the rivets began to rotate and a sphere of light shot out from the muzzle. Time seemed to stand still as Takana could only watch the round close in on her. Out of desperation, Takana tried twisting out of Aisha's grip. But instead of breaking free, the two of them were now facing sideways when the Caster round impacted. This did not spare Takana from its effect, although it meant that Aisha would also feel its effects. It felt as though she was being run over by a truck and electrocuted at the same time. The two beast‑women flew backwards in an explosion of bluish light. 

**

"OK then…..you win." Hilda chuckled.

Craven, Ms. Nguyen and the remaining bodyguards looked at the outlaw in disbelief. A slightly incredulous expression was on Suzuka's face as well.

With both hands raised, Hilda stepped towards the executive and his men.

**_That's right….just a little closer_ she said to herself as she continued forward.**

Using her index and middle finger, Hilda deftly threw the plastic key‑card past Craven's bodyguards. It landed perfectly on top of the hood of the burning car that Hilda had shot with Gene's Caster. They looked at her and then the car. 

"Well boys‑ what's it going to be? Me? Or the card? It's plastic, so you don't have all night to make up your mind." 

A look of anguish came across Craven's face. Had Hilda resorted to scorched earth tactics? Was she going to arrange it so that there would be nothing of value left behind? He was so close to getting back what she had taken from him, now it was literally going up in smoke. 

"**_DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET IT!__" _ he yelled to his men. **

Two or three of Craven's men cautiously made their way to the burning car, sensing it was some sort of trick on the Outlaw's part. They were right. Hilda was already retreating as the surface of the bridge shook from a tremendous explosion coming from the already burning car. It wasn't the fuel tank, either. Ever since returning from Sandoval's place, the dark‑haired outlaw had been carefully working on creating a duplicate key made from a very thin and malleable plastic explosive. The only thing it lacked was an appropriate detonator. Hilda figured that using the Caster to blow up one of Craven's vehicles served more than one purpose- the first would be to serve as a trigger to set off the duplicate key-card, and the resulting explosions should distract the C'tarl Bounty huntress and Craven's security detail from Aisha and Suzuka's approach- or Gene and Mel's retreat depending on the timing. Still, she figured the less people on her side around for the blast, the better.

As she pondered this, Suzuka stepped protectively in front of her. From about 20 feet away, Ms Nguyen was on the ground and squeezed off a burst from her Seburo towards Hilda. Instead of striking down the dark-haired outlaw or the beautiful assassin, there was a shimmering white light as the bullets were deflected by Suzuka's the light shield on Suzuka's wrist. 

"You're getting careless…" the assassin admonished Hilda.

"I guess so." Hilda said rather sheepishly before she flicked off the safety on the MN23. she fired a burst towards Craven and Ms. Nguyen's location before picking off  two of the remaining members of Craven's security detail as the emerged from cover to help their boss.

Hilda briefly assessed their situation. Although she and Suzuka were still armed, there was no cover for them to use, leaving them exposed. Also, despite the explosives, she was pretty sure that Craven still had the advantage in numbers. As badly as she wanted to see Craven dead, Hilda had realized that they had gotten what they had came here for.

"We might as well get the hell out of here…" she said to the assassin.

Suzuka didn't object.

**

Aisha tried lifting her arms, but they felt as though they were made out of lead. Her head was throbbing and she could smell singed flesh and hair. **_Some of that is probably mine_ she mused. In her daze, she thought for a moment that she was in the Chinese restaurant on Blue Heaven where she was on the receiving end of a Caster for the first time. A coolly breeze of salt air brought her back to the here and now. Aisha realized that both the Ionah and herself had been shot with one of Gene's Caster rounds.**

Next to her, she was aware of some movement. It was the Tracker-Killer. She was already up and on her feet, although she seemed to be moving very cautiously and was using the guardrail for support. **_How is that possible?_** Aisha wondered. At the very least, she should be immobilized. As Aisha continued trying to pick herself up off of the ground, she thought she heard Gene Starwind ponder the same question out loud.

"How.......?" Gene started to ask as he glimpsed Takana moving around on her own. He seemed to be getting woozier with each passing second. There was a smoking softball‑sized hole in the right side of Takana's dress and some singed flesh, but otherwise the tracker‑killer seemed just fine. 

  


A confident grin was on Takana's face as she over heard the Outlaw's query. "I could very well ask you the same thing, Captain Gene. I'm impressed. What is it that keeps you going? Rage? Pride? Vengeance? Adrenaline, perhaps? Or maybe the thought of waking up next to the Machine Girl again? I thought for certain I severed your spinal column....yet here you are, standing in front of me." she walked closer to Gene, slowly, but no longer using the railing for support. "It seems I underestimated you. But I'll ask you this‑ are you ready to finish what you started?" 

Gene held his ground. "Outlaws never go down easy...." he heard himself say. 

_Author's Note: Where does the time go? The Patriots are in the Super Bowl once again and my beloved Red Sox will be poised for another run at futility……er...I mean…greatness in roughly 2 months. I estimated the next update would take 6 months, and 6 months (and some change) later, here I am._

_ To those of you who have read this far, I'd like to thank you for indulging me in my flashbacks of Takana; think of it as a sort of a fic within a fic._ _There are a couple reasons behind my doing this. One of the big ones would be to better differentiate her from Aisha; same species, but completely different backgrounds, skills, specialties, tactics, mindsets and so on. And let's face it; how many of you would be willing to read a fic with nothing but OCs set in some obscure part of the OLS universe? I would also like to consider this good practice for writing a fairly detailed background to a certain Outlaw Star character who's past I felt was somewhat vague for an integral part of an upcoming fic (I'll let you guess who)_. __


End file.
